IRELAND   A^  ER    PEOPLE 

A  LIBRARY  OF  IRTRH  BIOGF  \PHY 


TOGETHER  WITH  A 


POPULAR  HISTORY  op  ANCii^A  .  a^.i>  m.\--1-lj^J>.    UvJN 


TO  WHICH  13  AL'DED  A ' 


APPENDIX  OF  COPIOUS  NOTES  AND  UH 


SUPPLEMENTED  WITH 

YG/TAT  5IH44A/1  R'TT//T 

A  DICTIONARY  OF  PROPCR  NAMES  IN  IRISH  .v 

GENEALOGY,   ETC.,  EMBRACING  A  PERi 

TURIE8  OP  LEGEND,  TRADITION  ^ 

WITH  NUMEROUS  ILLUSTRAI.V44». 


PREPARED  AND  EDm^D  '- 

THOS.  W.   H.  FIT-^*  I^ 

VOLUME  III 

FITZGERALD  BOOir   '  r%fi  vktv 
CHICAGO 


TAMES  NAPPKR  TANDY 


IRELAND    AND    HER    PEOPLE 

A  LIBRARY  OF  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 


TOGETHER  WITH  A 

POPULAR  HISTORY  of  ANCIENT  and  MODERN  ERIN 

TO  WmCH  IS  ADDED  AN 

APPENDIX  OF  COPIOUS  NOTES  AND  USEFUL  TABLES 

SUPPLEMENTED  WITH 

A  DICTIONARY  OP  PROPER  NAMES  IN  IRISH  MYTHOLOGY,  GEOGRAPHY, 
GENEALOGY,   ETC.,  EMBRACING  A  PERIOD  OP  PORTY  CEN- 
TURIES OP  LEGEND,  TRADITION  AND  HISTORY; 
WITH  NUMEROUS  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PREPARED  AND  EDITED  BY 

THOS.  W.   H.   FITZGERALD 

VOLUME  III 

FITZGERALD  BOOK  COMPANY 
CHICAGO 


Copyright,  1910,  by 
FITZGERAlvD  BOOK  COMPANY 


4t=/586 


CONTENTS  VOLUME   III. 


A 

PAGE 

Adamnan,  Saint    - ____  365 

Adams,  Robert,  Surgeon      -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -  116 

Adrain,  Robert,  Mathematician     ------  88 

Alison,  Francis,  Presbyterian  Clergyman      -     -     -  64 

Allingham,  William,  Poet    --------  141 

Archer,  James,  R.  C.  Clergyman    -     -     -     -     -     -  318 

Armstrong,  George  Buchanan,  Founder  Ry.  Mail 

Service      ------------  109 

Arthur,  James,  R.  C.  Clergyman    ------  320 

:;::r   B 

Ball,    Frances    (Frances    Mary   Teresa),    Mother 

Superior    ------------  377 

Banigan,  Joseph,  Manufacturer     ------  75 

Barker,  Francis,  Chemist  and  Physician  ----119 

Barnewall,  Nicholas,  Viscount  Kingsland     -     -     -  262, 

Barret,  George,  Landscape  Painter     -----  104 

^2irve.it,  ]o\\n.  Educator  and  Author   -----  321 

Barrington,  Jonah,  Author  and  Politician    -     -     -  152 

Barron,  Edward,  R.  C.  Bishop      -     -     -     -     -     -  313 

Barry,  John,  R.  C.  Bishop    --------  302 

Barter,  Richard,  Hydropathic  Physician      -     -     -  120 

Barton,  Thomas,  Clergyman    -------  73 

Bathe,  William,  Educator  and  Author     -     -     -     -  297 

Bellingham,  O'Bryen,  Surgeon      ------120 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Beresford,  John,  Statesman 9^ 

Beresford,  John  George,  Anglican  Archbishop     -  261 

Bermingham,  John,  Earl  of  Louth 3^5 

Binns,  John,  Journalist  - -128 

Blakeney,  Edward,  Soldier 267 

Blood,  Thomas,  Adventurer 264 

Bourke,  Richard  Southwell,  Statesman    -     -     -     -  95 

Bowden,  John,  Clergyman 74 

Boyd,  James  E.,  Governor 89 

Boyle,  Roger,  Earl  of  Orrery 285 

Bradley,  Denis  Mary,  R.  C.  Bishop 61 

Brouncker,  William,  Mathematician        -     -     -     -  274 

Brown,  Alexander,  Banker 79 

Browne,  Patrick,  Naturalist  and  Author      -     -     -  273 

Burk,  John  Daly,  Historian  and  Dramatist      -     -  136 

Burke,  Denis  Francis,  Soldier 13 

Burton,  Frederick  William,  Artist loi 

Busteed,  Richard,  Jurist 86 

Butler,  James,  ist  Earl  of  Ormond 170 

Butler,  James,  2nd  Earl  of  Ormond 171 

Butler,  James,  srd  Earl  of  Ormond 171 

Butler,  James,  4th  Earl  of  Ormond 172 

Butler,  James,  ^th  Earl  of  Ormond    -----  i73 

Butler,  James,  6th  Earl  of  Ormond I73 

Butler,  Thomas,  yth  Earl  of  Ormond      -     -    -     -  174 

Butler,  Pierce,  8th  Earl  of  Ormond i74 

Butler,  James,  pth  Earl  of  Ormond    -----  176 

Butler,  Thomas,  loth  Earl  of  Ormond    -    -    -    -  i77 

Butler,  Walter,  lith  Earl  of  Ormond    -     -     -     -  180 

Butler,  James,  2nd  Duke  of  Ormond      -     -     -     -  181 

Butler,  Pierce,  Viscount  Galmoy 184 

Butler,  Richard,  Viscount  Mount  garret    -     -     -     -  185 

Butler,  William  Archer,  Educator 255 

Butler,  William  Francis,  Soldier 268 

Byrne,  Andrew,  R.  C.  Bishop 3^7 

Byrnes,  Thomas,  Po/tV^  O^c^r no 


CONTENTS 
C 

PAGE 

Caimin,  Saint  (or  Camin)    --------  366 

Cairns,  Hugh  McCalmont,  Statesman     -     -     -     -  98 

Cairnes,  John  ElHott,  Political  Economist    -     -     -  81 

Canice,  Saint  (or  Kenny)     --------  374 

Canning,  George,  Author     ------         -  387 

Chesney,  Charles  C,  Soldier    -------  328 

Ciaran,  Saint  (or  Kiaran)    --------  368 

Ciaran,  Saint  (or  Kieran)     --------  369 

Clancy,  William,  R.  C.  Bishop      ------  303 

Clarke,  Adam,  Biblical  Commentator      -     -     -     -  259 

Clarke,  John  Vaughn,  Banker      ------  80 

Coemghin,  Saint  (or  Kevin)     -------  367 

Collier,  Peter  Fenelon,  Publisher  -     -     -     -     -     -  131 

Collins,  David,  Colonial  Governor      -----  352 

Comgall,  Saint  (or  Congal)     -------  366 

Concanen,  Richard  Luke,  R.  C.  Bishop    -     -     -     -  304 

Conn,  King,  Monarch  of  Ireland    ------  402 

Connolly,  John,  R.  C.  Bishop    -------  305 

Conroy,  Florence,  R.  C.  Archbishop    -     -     -     -     -  318 

Conwell,  Henry,  R.  C.  Bishop       ------  306 

Cooke,  Henry,  Presbyterian  Clergyman       -     -     -  257 
Coppinger,  John  Joseph,  Soldier     ------12 

Cosby,  Philip,  Admiral   ---------  320 

Costello,  Louisa  Stuart,  Author    ------331 

Cox,  Richard,  Lord-Chancellor     ------  277 

Coyne,  Joseph  S.,  Author  and  Dramatist    -     -     -  321 

Croke,  Thomas  William,  R.  C.  Archbishop    -     -     -  33 

Crowley,  Peter  O'Neill,  Fenian     ------  405 

Cullen,  Paul,  Cardinal    ---------  298 


D'Alton,  John,  Genealogist  and  Antiquarian     -     -     331 
Darcy,  Patrick,  Count,  Soldier  and  Mathematician        5 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Dargan,  William,  Engineer -     -  357 

Dathy,  King,  Monarch  of  Ireland      -----  403 

De  Barry,  David  FitzDavid,  Earl  of  Barrymore    -  337 

De  Barry,  David  Fitzjames,  Viscount  Buttevant     -  336 

De  Burgh,  John,  gth  Earl  of  Clanricard    -     -     -  247 

De  Burgh,  Richard,  Lord  of  Connaught      -     -     -  241 

De  Burgh,  Richard,  2nd  Earl  of  Clanricard    -     -  245 

De  Burgh,  Richard,  2nd  Earl  of  Ulster  -     -     -     -  242 

De  Burgh,  Richard,  4th  Earl  of  Clanricard     -     -  245 

De  Burgh,   Elizabeth      ---------  244 

De  Burgh,  Ulick,  ist  Earl  of  Clanricard    -     -     -  244 

De  Burgh,  Ulick,  Marquis  of  Clanricard    -     -     -  246 

De  Burgh,  Walter,  ist  Earl  of  Ulster      -     -     -     -  242 

De  Burgh,  William,  ^rd  Earl  of  Ulster    -     -     -     -  243 

De  Burgo,  John,  Vicar-Apostolic  ------  378 

Dillon,  Patrick,  C.  S.  C,  Educator    -----  308 

Dillon,  Peter,  Sailor       ---------  420 

Dillon,  Theobald,  Count,  Soldier    ------  391 

Dillon,  Thomas,  Viscount,  Soldier    -     -     -     -     -  419 

Dobbs,  Arthur,  Colonial  Governor    -----  91 

Donahoe,  Patrick,  Journalist  and  Publisher      -     -  124 
Douglas,  John  C,  Surgeon  --------271 

Downing,  George,  Baronet,  Lawyer    -----  327 

Doyle,  John,  Soldier --  326 

Drew,  John,  Actor     ----------  123 

Duchal,  James,  Presbyterian  Clergyman  -     -     -     -  260 

Duffy,  Edward,  Fenian   ---------252 

Duggan,  James,  R.  C.  Bishop    -------  38 

Duggan,   Peter  Paul,  Artist 104 

E 

Egan,  John,  Chairman  of  Kilmainham    -     -     -     -  351 

Elliott,  Charles,  Methodist  Clergyman    -     -     -     -  74 

Emmet,  Robert,  Lazvyer      --------  84 

Emmet,  Thomas  Addis,  Lawyer    ------  85 


CONTENTS 

PAOE 

Esmond,  Laurence,  Lord  Esmond  -    -     -     -     -  332 

Eustace,  James,   Viscount  Baltinglass     -     -     -     -  422 

Eustace,  Maurice,  Lord-Chancellor    -----  423 

Eustace,  Roland,  Lord  Portlester      -----  421 

Evans,  George  De  Lacy,  Soldier    ------  389 

F 

Fachtna,  Saint      -----------  372 

Feargal,  Saint  (or  Virgilius)    -------  377 

Feehan,  Patrick  Augustine,  R.  C.  Archbishop    -     -  41 
Feichin,  Saint  (or  Fechin)       ---.---371 

Felim,  King,  King  of  Munster 403 

Finan,  Saint     ------------  373 

Finbarr,   Saint       -----------  370 

Finen,  Saint  (or  Finnian)    --------  369 

Finnerty,  Peter,  Journalist       -------  280 

Fitton,  William  H.,  Geologist  -------  274 

FitzGerald,  Maurice,  ist  Earl  of  Desmond     -     -  186 

FitzGerald,  Maurice,  2nd  Earl  of  Desmond     -     -  187 

FitzGerald,  Nicholas,  jrd  Earl  of  Desmond    -     -  187 

FitzGerald,  Gerald,  4th  Earl  of  Desmond    -     -     -  188 

FitzGerald,  John,  ^th  Earl  of  Desmond  -     -     -     -  188 

FitzGerald,  Thomas,  6th  Earl  of  Desmond  -     -     -  189 

FitzGerald,  James,  yth  Earl  of  Desmond    -     -     -  189 

FitzGerald,  Thomas,  8th  Earl  of  Desmond      -     -  190 

FitzGerald,  James,  pth  Earl  of  Desmond    -    -     -  191 

FitzGerald,  Maurice,  loth  Earl  of  Desmond    -     -  192 

FitzGerald,  James,  nth  Earl  of  Desmond    -     -     -  193 

FitzGerald,  Thomas,  12th  Earl  of  Desmond    -     -  194 

FitzGerald,  James,  i^th  Earl  of  Desmond    -     -     -  195 

FitzGerald,  James,  14th  Earl  of  Desmond    -     -     -  195 

FitzGerald,  Gerald,  i^th  Earl  of  Desmond  -     -     -  196 

FitzGerald,  James,  "Sugan  Earl"  of  Desmond  -     -  212 

FitzGerald,  John,  ist  Earl  of  Kildare    -     -     -     -  216 

FitzGerald,  Thomas,  2nd  Earl  of  Kildare    -    -     -  217 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

FitzGerald,  Maurice,  4th  Earl  of  Kildare    -    -    -  218 

FitzGerald,  Gerald,  5th  Earl  of  Kaldare    -    -    -  218 

FitzGerald,  Thomas,  yth  Earl  of  Kildare    -    -    -  219 

'FxizGtrsXd,  Gtvd^d,  8th  Earl  of  Kildare  -     -     -     -  219 

FitzGerald,  Gerald,  ^th  Earl  of  Kildare  -     -     -     -  223 

FitzGerald,  Gerald,  nth  Earl  of  Kildare    -     -    -  228 

FitzGerald,  Henry,  12th  Earl  of  Kildare    -     -     -  232 

FitzGerald,  Gerald,  14th  Earl  of  Kildare    -     -     -  233 

FitzGerald,  George,  i6th  Earl  of  Kildare    -     -     -  233 

FitzGerald,  John,  i8th  Earl  of  Kildare    -    -    -    -  234 

FitzGerald,  Robert,  i^th  Earl  of  Kildare    -     -     -  234 

FitzGerald,  James,  20th  Earl  of  Kildare     -     -     -  235 

FitzGerald,  William  R.,  2nd  Duke  of  Leinster  -     -  235 

FitzGerald,  Augustus  F.,  ^rd  Duke  of  Leinster    -  236 

FitzGerald,  Maurice,  2nd  Baron  Offaly    -     -     -     -  214 

FitzGerald,  Maurice,  jrc?  Baron  Offaly    -     -     -     -  215 

FitzGerald,  Gerald,  4th  Baron  Offaly    -     -     -     -  216 

FitzGerald,  Edward,  Leader  of  'p8    -----  240 

FitzGerald,    Elizabeth     ---------  237 

FitzGerald,  James  FitzMaurice,  Chieftain    -     -     -  208 

FitzGerald,  John  F.,  Chieftain -  238 

FitzGerald,  John  F.,  Chieftain     ------  239 

FitzGerald,  Robert,  Williamite      ------  237 

FitzMaurice,  Thomas,  Lord  of  Kerry    -     -     -     -  330 

Flaherty,  Bernard,  Actor    --------122 

Flann,  Mainistrech     ----------  323 

Flannan,  Saint       -----------  374 

Forbes,  Arthur,  1st  Earl  of  Granard      -     -     -     -  416 

Forbes,  Arthur,  2nd  Earl  of  Granard    -     -     -     -  417 

Forbes,  George,  jrJ  Earl  of  Granard    -     -     -     -  418 

Forbes,  George,  6th  Earl  of  Granard      -     -     -     -  418 

Foster,  John,  Baron  Oriel    --------  329 

Fowke,  Francis,  Architect  and  Engineer      -     -     -  324 

French,  Nicholas,  R.  C.  Bishop    -     -     -     -     -     -  316 

Fridolin,  Saint       -----------  376 

Fursa,  Saint     ------------  375 


CONTENTS 
G 

PAGE 

Galberry,  Thomas,  R.  C.  Bishop    ------  59 

Gardiner,  Luke,  Viscount  Mount  joy  -----  329 

Gartland,  Francis  Xavier,  R.  C.  Bishop    -     -     -     -  301 

Gillespie,  Robert  Rollo,  Soldier    ------  24 

Gilmore,  Patrick  Sarsfield,  Band  Master    -     -     -  112 

Godkin,  Edwin  Lawrence,  Journalist  and  Author  -  133 

Goold,  James  A.,  R.  C.  Bishop 295 

Gore,  John,  Vice- Admiral    --------  392 

Graves,  Thomas,  Admiral    --------412 

Griffith,  Richard  John,  Baronet,  Geologist    -     -     -  355 

Guinness,  Benjamin  Lee,  Baronet,  Brewer    -     -     -  326 

H 

Haliday,  William,  Author  and  Scholar    -     -     -     -  280 

Hall,  Anna  Maria,  Author 385 

Hall,  John,  Presbyterian  Clergyman       -     -     -     -  68 

Hamilton,  Gustavus,  Viscount  Boyne     -    -    -    -  265 

Hamilton,  Hugh,  Portrait  Painter     -----  105 

Harrington,  Timothy  Charles,  Nationalist    -     -     -  388 

Harvey,  Bagenal  B.,  Leader  of  'p8    -----  334 

Harvey,  William  Henry,  Botanist     -----  272 

Hay,  Edward,  Author    ---------  322 

Healy,  Patrick  Joseph,  Merchant  ------  79 

Helsham,  Richard,  Physician    -------271 

Hely-Hutchinson,  John,  Provost  of  Trinity  College  97 

Hendricken,  Thomas  Francis,  R.  C.  Bishop     -     -  57 

Hennessy,  John,  R.  C.  Archbishop    -----  48 

Henry,  Alexander,  Merchant    -------  263 

Higgins,  Bryan,  Physician  and  Chemist      -     -     -  118 
Higgins,  William,  Chemist  --------118 

Higinbotham,  George,  Jurist    -------353 

Hincks,  Edward,  Philologist    -------  275 

Holwell,  John  Zephaniah,  Author     -----  150 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Homes,  William,  Clergyman    -------  70 

Hopkins,  John  Henry,  Episcopal  Bishop     -     -     -  72 

Hunter,  Humphrey,  Patriot  and  Soldier      -     -     -  17 

Hutcheson,  Francis,  Author  and  Clergyman      -    -  261 


Ita,  Saint 373 

J 

Jarlath,  Saint  (or  larlath)    -     -     -     -         _     _     -  370 

Johnson,  Henry,  Baronet,  Soldier.   -----  266 
Jordan,  Dorothea,  Actress    --------281 

K 

Kavansigh,  JuHsl,  Novelist  and  Biographer    -    -     -  151 

Keegan,  John,  Poet   -    - 277 

Kelly,  Patrick,  R.  C.  Bishop -  303 

Kennedy,  Patrick,  Author    --------  276 

Kenrick,  Francis  Patrick,  R.  C.  Archbishop      -     -  44 

Kenrick,  Peter  Richard,  R.  C.  Archbishop    -     -    -  47 

Keugh,  Matthew,  Governor  of  Wexford    -    -    -  333 

Kilian,  Saint     ------------  367 

King,  Edward,  Author 279 

Kirwan,  Francis,  R.  C.  Bishop     -     -     -     -     ^     -  290 

Kyan,  Esmonde,  Leader  of  'g8 253 

L 

Lawler,  Michael  Kelly,   Soldier 15 

Leahy,  Patrick,  R.  C.  Archbishop 296 

Leary  (or  Laegai re),  Mo warc/i  0/ /r^/awrf    -     -     -  25 

Lynch,  Patrick  Nieson,  R.  C.  Bishop    -     -     -     -  62 


CONTENTS 
M 

PAGE 

Macartney,  George,  Earl  Macartney,  Diplomat      -  409 
MacBride,  David,  Physician     -------121 

MacCool,  Finn,  Chieftain    --------  404 

MacDonnell,  Francis,  Soldier    -------  n 

MacHale,  John,  R.  C.  Archbishop    -----  30 

MacMurrough,  Dermot,  Chieftain     -----  29 

Madden,  Richard  Robert,  Politician  and  Author    -  146 

Maguire,  John  Francis,  Author  and  Politician  -     -  151 

Makemie,  Francis,  Presbyterian  Clergyman     -     -  65 

Malachy  I.,  Monarch  of  Ireland    ------  26 

Malachy  II.,  Monarch  of  Ireland    ------  27 

Malachy,  Saint      -------___.  ^58 

Malone,  Anthony,  Politician    -------  284 

Marsh,  Henry,  Physician     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -  121 

Massey,  Eyre,  Baron  Clarina,  Soldier    -     -    -     -  16 

McArthur,  William,  Lord  Mayor  of  London    -    -  100 

McCullagh,  Joseph  Burbridge,  Journalist    -     -     -  129 

McMaster,  Gilbert,  Presbyterian  Clergyman     -     -  71 

McMullen,  John,  R.  C.  Bishop 297 

McReynolds,  Andrew  Thomas,  Soldier    -     -     -     -  14 

Miley,  John,  R.  C.  Clergyman  -------  295 

Moor,  Michael,  Provost  of  Trinity  College      -    -  294 
Moylan,  Francis,  R.  C.  Bishop     ------314 

Mullen,  Tobias,  R.  C.  Bishop    -------312 

Munro,  Henry,  United  Irishman    ------253 

Murphy,  John,  R.  C.  Clergyman    ------  2^1 

Murphy,  Michael,  R.  C.  Clergyman    -----  251 

Murray,  Daniel,  R.  C.  Archbishop     -----  34 

Murray,  John,  Presbyterian  Clergyman  -     -     -    -  66 

N 

Napier,  Joseph,  Lord-Chancellor    ------    342 

Nicholson,  John,  Soldier     --------20 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Norris,  John,  Admiral 319 

Nugent,  Lavall,  Count,  Soldier    ------       10 


O'Brien,  Brian  Roe,  King  of  Munster    -    -    -    -  162 

O'Brien,  Conor,  King  of  Munster    -     -     -     -     -  161 

O'Brien,  Donald,  King  of  Munster    -----  159 

O'Brien,  Donough,  King  of  Munster      -     -     -     -  156 

O'Brien,  Donough  C,  King  of  Munster  -     -     -     -  161 

O'Brien,  Murtough,  King  of  Munster    -     -     -     -  158 

O'Brien,  Murtough,  King  of  Munster    -     -     -     -  160 

O'Brien,  Turlough,    King  of  Munster    -    -     -     -  157 

O'Brien,  Murrough,  ist  Earl  of  Thomond    -     -     -  163 

O'Brien,  Conor,  jrJ  Earl  of  Thomond    -     -     -     -  164 

O'Brien,  Donough,  4th  Earl  of  Thomond    -     -     -  164 

O'Brien,  Charles,  Viscount  Clare,  Soldier    -     -     -  6 

O'Brien,  Hugh,  Journalist  and  Politician    -    -    -  126 

O'Brien,  Lucius,  Baronet,  Politician    -----  166 

O'Brien,  Murrough,  Earl  of  Inchiquin    -     -    -    -  167 

O'Callaghan,  Edmund  Bailey,  Historian      -    -    -  134 
O'Clery,  Michael,  Annalist  --------154 

O'Connell,  Daniel,  Count,  Soldier    -----  3 

O'Connor,  Michael,  R.  C.  Bishop 53 

O'Conor,  Cathal  Crovderg,  Chieftain    -    -    -    -  29 

O'Conor,  Turlough,  Monarch  of  Ireland    -    -    -  28 

O'Donnel,  James  Louis,  R.  C.  Bishop    -    -     -    -  52 

O'Donnell,  Hugh,  Soldier 415 

O'Donnell,  Rory,  Chieftain 414 

O'Donnell,  Daniel,  Soldier  --------  7 

O'Donovan,  Edmund,  War  Correspondent  -    -    -  144 

O'Hara,  Kane,  Musician 112 

O'Mahony,  John,  Fenian     --------  406 

O'Malley,  Grace,  Chieftainess 247 

O'Meara,  Barry  Edward,  Surgeon  and  Author    -  117 

O'Neill,  Con  B.,  C/ttV//am 398 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

O'Neill,  Felim  (or  Phelim),  Soldier    -    -    -    -  400 

O'Neill,  Flaherty,  Chieftain     -------  394 

O'Neill,  Henry,  Chieftain    --------  397 

O'Neill,  Hugh,  Chieftain    --------  395 

O'Neill,  Owen,  Chieftain         ----_--  3^ 

O'Neill,  Turlough  L.,  Chieftain    ------  399 

O'Regan,  Anthony,  R.  C.  Bishop  ------  37 

O'Reilly,  Bernard,  i?.  C.  Bishop    ------  3(x> 

O'Shanassy,  John,  Australian  Statesman     -    -    -  349 

O'Shaughnessy,  William,  Soldier      -----  9 

Ossian  (or  Oisin),  Poet  and  Warrior    -    -    -     -  137 

O'Toole,  Laurence,  Saint    --------  362 


Petty-FitzMaurice,  William,  Earl  of  Shelhurne    -  344 

Plunket,  Oliver,  R.  C.  Archbishop    -----  291 

Pottinger,  Henry,  Soldier  and  Diplomat      -    -    -  19 

Prendergast,  Richard,  Jurist    -------  337 

Purcell,  John  Baptist,  R.  C.  Archbishop      -    -    -  49 

Q 

Quarter,  William,  R.  C.  Bishop    ------  35 

Quinlan,  John,  R.  C.  Bishop    -    -    -    -    -    -    -  311 

R 

Reed,  Thomas,  Soldier --410 

Reid,  Captain  Mayne,  Author  and  Soldier    -    -     -  148 

Roche,  James  Jeffrey,  Editor  and  Poet    -     -     -     -  126 

Ryan,  Edward  George,  Jurist    -------  83 

S 

Saint  Gaudens,  Augustus,  Sculptor    -----  106 

Senan,  Saint    ------------  372 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Sewell,  William  Joyce,  Soldier  and  U.  S.  Senator  87 

Sheares,  John,  United  Irishman    ------  424 

Shee,  Martin  Archer,  Artist  and  Author      -     -     -  103 

Sheridan,  Thomas,  Actor  and  Elocutionist    -     -     -  283 

Smyth,  Clement,  R.  C.  Bishop -  312 

Stewart,  Charles  William  Vane,  Marquis,  Soldier  22 

Stewart,  Robert,  Viscount  Castlereagh    -     -     -     -  286 


Tandy,  James  Napper,  Patriot     ------  i 

Iroy.  John  Thomzs,  R.  C.  Archbishop    -    -    -     -  315 

U 

Ussher,  James,  Anglican  Archbishop      -     -     -     -  378 

W 

Waddel,  James,  Presbyterian  Clergyman    -     -     -  6y 
Walsh,  Patrick,  Journalist  and  U.  S.  Senator    -     -  127 
Walsh,    Thomas    Francis,    Capitalist   and    Mine- 
Owner       --- 75 

V^2irdtn,'Ddi\\d'B2.\\{Q.,  Physician  and  Author    -     -  115 

Wark,  David,  Canadian  Statesman    -----  90 

Warwick,  John  G.,  Congressman    ------  90 

Wellesley,  Garrett,  Viscount,  Musician  -     -     -     -  114 

Whelan,  James,  R.  C.  Bishop    -------  60 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FAQB 


James  Napper  Tandy _  -  -  Frontispiece 

Robert  Rollo  Gillespie 24 

Sir  Jonah  Barrington  -----------    152 

Duke  of  Leinster 235 

Adam  Clarke  - 259 


IRISH     BIOGRAPHY 

NATIVES  OF  IRELAND 
James  Napper  Tandy 

James  Napper  Tandy,  patriot,  was  born  in 
Dublin,  in  1740,  of  which  city  he  was  a  popular 
and  prosperous  merchant.  One  of  the  chief 
leaders  of  the  patriotic  interests,  his  influence 
more  than  once  turned  the  scale  in  favor  of  the 
popular  candidate,  both  at  municipal  and  par- 
liamentary elections.  In  the  restrictive  laws 
against  Irish  trade  he  urged  upon  every  Irishman 
to  refrain  from  purchasing  goods  of  English 
manufacture  until  the  obnoxious  restrictions 
were  removed.  In  the  afifairs  of  the  Irish  volun- 
teers, Tandy  was  a  conspicuous  figure  and  threw 
himself  heart  and  soul  into  the  movement,  seeing 
through  their  powerful  influence  splendid  chances 
for  asserting  the  rights  of  his  country.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  to  join  the  regiment  of  which  the 
Duke  of  Leinster  was  commander,  and  subse- 
quently was  appointed  to  the  command  of  a 
corps  of  artillery. 

Tandy  was  the  first  secretary  of  the  Society 
of  United  Irishmen  at  Dublin  and  was  incessant 
in  his  efforts  to  promote  parliamentary  reform 
by  uniting  both  Catholics  and  Protestants  for 
the  overthrow  of  alien  legislation.  Early  in  1792 
he  challenged  the  solicitor-general,  Toler,  to  fight 
a  duel,  for  abusive  language,  but  instead  of  being 
accepted,  Tandy  was  ordered  to  prison,  until  the 
close  of  the  session  of  the  House  of  Commons, 


2  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

for  breach  of  privilege.  Tandy  raised  a  formal 
action  for  illegality  against  the  solicitor-general 
and  his  privy-councillors,  w^hich,  brought  forv^ard 
by  a  man  of  such  republican  principles,  was  natu- 
rally dismissed  at  the  final  hearing,  November 
26,  1792.  That  same  year  he  started  a  move- 
ment for  reviving  the  volunteers,  and,  with  the 
assistance  of  A.  H.  Rowan,  raised  two  battalions 
of  National  Guards,  each  1,000  strong.  They 
were  equipped  with  green  uniforms,  harp  but- 
tons, and  in  the  emblems  they  had  in  place  of  the 
crown  a  cap  of  liberty.  The  National  Guards 
were,  however,  soon  dispersed  by  the  govern- 
ment. 

For  distributing  a  pamphlet  in  County  Louth 
(entitled  Common  Sense)  against  the  corruption 
of  the  powerful  Beresford  family,  proceedings 
were  instituted  against  him.  When  the  govern- 
ment learned  of  his  meeting  with  the  "Defend- 
ers" in  the  same  county  for  the  purpose  of  effect- 
ing a  coalition  between  them  and  the  United 
Irishmen,  orders  were  issued  for  his  arrest. 
Tandy  evaded  capture,  however,  and  managed 
to  escape  to  this  country,  lived  for  some  time  in 
Wilmington,  Delaware,  and,  on  learning  the  suc- 
cess of  Wolfe  Tone's  mission  at  Paris,  crossed 
to  France  in  the  spring  of  1798.  On  his  arrival 
Napoleon  made  him  general  of  brigade  in  the 
French  army,  and  subsequently  with  a  small  ves- 
sel, the  Anacreon,  and  a  few  men,  Tandy  sailed 
to  Ireland  as  an  auxiliary  to  the  expedition  under 
General  Humbert. 

September  16, 1798,  he  landed  on  an  island  off 
the  coast  of  Donegal,  but  hearing  of  the  defeat 
of  Humbert  eight  days  previous,  there  was  noth- 
ing left  for  Tandy  but  a  desperate  chance  of  es- 
cape.   The  expedition  finally  managed  to  reach 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  3 

Norway;  and  while  on  his  way  back  to  France, 
he  was  arrested  at  Hamburg  and  handed  over  to 
the  British  authorities.  After  being  held  in 
prison  for  about  a  year  he  was  taken  to  Ireland, 
placed  on  trial  at  Dublin,  February  12,  1800,  and 
acquitted,  but  detained  in  custody.  He  was 
again  placed  on  trial,  April  7,  1801,  at  Lifford, 
County  Donegal,  this  time  for  landing  on  the 
island  near  by,  and  sentenced  to  death.  Na- 
poleon, however,  made  Tandy's  case  a  matter  of 
international  concern,  demanded  his  release,  and 
forced  Hamburg  to  pay  a  fine  of  half  a  million 
francs.  Also,  as  a  result,  Tandy  was  given  his 
liberty  and  allowed  to  depart  for  France.  On 
landing  at  Bordeaux,  March  14,  1802,  he  received 
a  public  ovation,  a  banquet  was  given  in  his 
honor,  and  he  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  general 
of  a  division  in  the  French  army. 

The  high  principles  that  characterized  his 
whole  career  close  only  with  death.  He  died  of 
camp  dysentery  at  Bordeaux,  France,  August  24, 
1803.  His  funeral  was  attended  by  the  whole 
military  of  the  district  and  an  immense  concourse 
of  citizens,  and  every  respect  was  paid  to  the 
dead  soldier  and  patriot.  The  name  of  Napper 
Tandy  will  always  be  regarded  with  the  highest 
esteem  by  his  countrymen  and  his  memory  has 
been  rendered  memorable  in  the  lines  of  Dion 
Boucicault's  patriotic  song,  "The  Wearing  of  the 
Green." 

Daniel  O'Connell 

Daniel  O'Connell,  Count,  was  born  at  Derry- 
nane,  County  Kerry,  in  August,  1743;  of  twenty- 
two  children  by  one  marriage  he  was  the  young- 
est. Having  studied  mathematics  and  modern 
languages,  he  entered  the  French  army  at  the 


4  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

age  of  fourteen,  as  lieutenant  in  Lord  Clare's 
regiment  of  the  Irish  brigade.  He  served  with 
honor  in  the  Seven  Years'  war  in  Germany;  and 
at  its  conclusion,  having  gained  much  experi- 
ence and  studied  military  engineering,  he  was 
attached  to  the  Corps  du  Genie,  and  became  one 
of  the  best  engineers  in  France. 

He  distinguished  himself  at  the  siege  and 
capture  of  Port  Mahon  from  the  British  in  1779, 
and  at  the  unsuccessful  siege  of  Gibraltar,  in 
September,  1782.  From  the  plans  of  assault  on 
the  latter  place  submitted  to  him,  he  felt  satisfied 
that  the  attack  could  not  succeed;  yet  he  led  a 
body  of  troops  in  the  attack,  which  was  made 
against  his  opinion,  and  was  wounded  in  nine 
places.  Soon  after  this  he  was  appointed  in- 
spector-general of  the  French  Infantry,  with  the 
rank  of  a  general  officer.  In  this  capacity  he  was 
intrusted  with  the  organization  of  the  general 
code  of  military  discipline.  His  suggestions  and 
regulations  were  adopted  into  the  French  armies 
after  the  revolution,  and  ultimately  by  other  na- 
tions, the  advantages  of  which  are  still  felt 
in  warfare. 

At  the  revolution  he  declined  a  military  com- 
mand pressed  upon  him  by  Carnot,  feeling  it  his 
duty  to  remain  near  Louis  XVI.,  and  share  the 
fortunes  of  the  royal  family.  Eventually  he 
joined  the  French  Princes  at  Coblentz,  and  took 
part  in  the  disastrous  campaign  of  1792.  He 
then  returned  to  Ireland,  and  was  appointed  to 
the  command  of  an  Irish  regiment  in  the  British 
service.  During  the  peace  of  1802  he  visited 
France  to  look  after  a  large  property  to  which 
his  wife  was  entitled.  He  was  one  of  the  British 
subjects  seized  by  Napoleon,  and  remained  a 
prisoner  until  1814. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  5 

The  advent  of  the  Bourbons  restored  him  to 
his  mihtary  rank  in  France;  and  he  enjoyed  in 
the  decHne  of  Hfe  full  pay  as  general  in  the 
French  army,  and  as  colonel  in  the  British  serv- 
ice. Refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  fidelity  to 
Louis  Philippe  in  1830,  he  v^as  deprived  of  his 
French  emoluments.  He  died  at  the  country 
seat  of  his  son-in-law,  Madon,  near  Blois,  July 
9,  1833.  He  v^as  uncle  of  the  great  Daniel 
O'Connell. 

Patrick  Darcy. 

Patrick  Darcy,  Count,  mathematician  and 
military  officer,  w^as  born  in  Galw^ay,  September 
27,  1725.  He  was  sent  to  Paris  by  an  uncle, 
studied  under  Clairaut  with  such  success  that  at 
the  age  of  seventeen  he  gave  a  solution  of  the 
problem  of  the  curve  of  equal  pressure,  and  soon 
became  eminent  in  mechanics  and  other  sciences. 
He  served  with  the  French  army  in  two  cam- 
paigns in  Germany,  and  in  1746  was  appointed 
aid-de-camp  to  Count  Fitz James;  was  made 
prisoner  in  Scotland,  but  obtained  his  release 
the  following  year.  In  1749  Darcy  was  made 
a  captain  in  the  regiment  of  Conde,  and  the 
same  year  became  a  member  of  the  French 
Academy  of  Science,  to  which  he  contributed  two 
able  essays  on  mechanics.  Subsequently  he 
served  with  distinction  in  the  Seven  Years'  war 
and  fought  at  the  battle  of  Rosbach  (with  the 
rank  of  colonel)  in  the  Irish  brigade. 

In  1760  he  published  an  "Essay  on  Artil- 
lery," and  in  1765  an  essay  on  the  "Duration  of 
the  Sensation  of  Sight."  Besides  these  works 
he  wrote  an  article  on  hydraulic  machines  and 
communicated  numerous  papers  to  the  academy. 
In  1770  he  was  appointed  marechal-de-camp  in 


6  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

the  French  army.  In  religion  Darcy  was  a  Catho- 
lic. He  died  of  cholera  at  Paris,  October  18, 
1779.  Condorcet  composed  his  eulogy  in  the 
Academy  of  Science. 

Charles  O'Brien 

Charles  O'Brien,  fifth  Viscount  Clare,  was 
born  probably  in  Ireland  the  latter  half  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  His  great  grandfather, 
Daniel  O'Brien  (brother  of  the  fourth  earl  of 
Thomond),  was  created  Viscount  Clare  for  his 
services  in  the  Irish  wars.  The  grandson  of  the 
latter,  Daniel  O'Brien,  third  viscount,  father  of 
Charles,  espoused  the  cause  of  James  II.,  raised 
two  regiments  of  foot  and  one  of  dragoons  for 
his  service,  fought  at  the  Boyne  and  retired  to 
France.  His  regiments  ultimately  formed  part 
of  the  Irish  brigade,  in  which  his  dragoons  espe- 
cially distinguished  themselves,  and  his  estates, 
comprising  about  60,000  acres  in  Clare,  were 
forfeited. 

Charles  commanded  a  regiment  of  foot  in  the 
army  of  King  James  II.  in  1689-90;  served  at  the 
second  siege  of  Limerick  in  1691,  and  the  follow- 
ing year  retired  to  France.  On  arriving  in  the 
latter  country  he  was  made  captain,  and  at  the 
battle  of  Marsaglia,  October  4,  1693,  was  pro- 
moted colonel.  His  elder  brother  Daniel  died 
from  wounds  received  in  this  battle  and  Charles 
succeeded  to  the  title  as  fifth  Viscount  Clare. 
He  was  made  colonel  of  the  Clare  regiment, 
April  8,  1696  (named  in  honor  of  his  family), 
served  at  Valenza  and  on  the  Meuse  in  the  cam- 
paigns of  1696-97.  When  the  war  of  the  Span- 
ish Succession  broke  out,  he  was  promoted 
brigadier-general,  April  2,  1703,  and  took  a  lead- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  7 

ing  part  in  the  rout  of  the  Imperialists  at  Hoch- 
stadt,  September  20,  1703.  In  1704  he  was  pro- 
moted major-general,  and  at  the  battle  of  Blen- 
heim, in  command  of  three  Irish  regiments,  he 
cut  his  way  out  of  the  village  of  Oberklau,  and 
escaped  with  his  men  to  the  Rhine  in  excellent 
order.  Created  marechal-de-camp,  October  26, 
1704,  he  joined  the  army  of  Flanders  under  Mar 
shal  de  Villars,  and  fell  at  the  battle  of  Ramil- 
lies.  May  23,  1706.  A  monument  was  erected  to 
his  memory  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Cross 
at  Louvain.  His  widow  remarried  General  Dan- 
iel O'Mahony  at  St.  Germains  in  1712. 

Charles  O'Brien's  only  son,  sixth  Viscount 
Clare,  was  born  in  1699.  King  George  I.  of  Eng- 
land offered  to  procure  him  the  revision  of  the 
title  and  estates  of  his  relative,  the  Earl  of  Tho- 
mond,  if  he  would  enter  the  British  service  and 
change  his  religion.  This  he  refused  to  do. 
O'Brien  took  a  distinguished  part  in  the  French 
victories  at  Fontenoy,  where  the  Irish  brigade 
turned  the  fortune  of  the  day,  and  at  Roucoux 
and  Laffeldt.  On  the  death  of  the  eighth  Earl 
of  Thomond,  in  1741,  he  assumed  the  title  of 
Comte  de  Thomond.  He  was  created  Marshal 
of  France,  February  24,  1757,  and  in  November 
of  the  same  year  was  made  commander-in-chief 
of  the  Province  of  Languedoc.  He  died  at  Mont- 
pellier,  September  9, 1761.  He  left  a  son,  Charles, 
colonel  of  the  Clare  regiment,  and  on  his  death 
at  Paris  in  1774  this  branch  of  the  O'Briens  be- 
came extinct. 

Daniel  O'Donnell 

Daniel  O'Donnell,  soldier  in  the  service  of 
France,  was  born  in  Ireland  in  1666.    He  was  a 


8  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

descendant  of  Hugh  the  Dark  ("The  Achilles  of 
the  Gaels  of  Erin"),  and  elder  brother  of  Manus 
O'Donnell,  lord  of  Tirconnell.  In  1688  Daniel 
was  appointed  captain  of  foot  in  the  army  of 
King  James  11. ,  and  in  1689  acting  colonel.  After 
the  treaty  of  Limerick  he  went  to  France,  and 
was  made  captain  in  the  Marine  regiment  of  the 
Irish  brigade,  commanded  by  James  Fitzjames. 
O'Donnell's  commission  was  dated  February  4, 
1692;  he  served  on  the  coast  of  Normandy,  and 
afterwards  in  the  campaigns  of  1693-95  in 
Germany. 

In  1698  his  regiment  was  reformed;  again 
served  in  Germany  in  1701,  subsequently  in  five 
campaigns  in  Italy,  and  held  the  rank  of  lieu- 
tenant-colonel at  the  siege  and  battle  of  Turin. 
In  1707  he  was  transferred  to  Flanders;  fought 
against  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  at  Oudenarde 
in  1708;  was  made  colonel,  August  7,  1708,  and 
commanded  the  regiment  of  O'Donnell  in  the 
campaigns  of  1709-12,  including  the  great  battles 
of  Malplaquet  and  Quesnoy.  He  then  served 
under  Marshal  de  Villars  in  Germany,  which  led 
to  the  peace  of  Rastadt  between  the  latter  coun- 
try and  France  in  March,  1714.  He  was  made 
brigadier-general,  February  1,  1719,  and  retired 
to  St.  Germain-en-Laye,  where  he  died  without 
issue,  July  7,  1735. 

General  O'Donnell  possessed  a  jeweled  cas- 
ket containing  a  Latin  psalter  (said  to  have  been 
written  by  the  hand  of  St.  Columba),  which  was 
regarded  by  him  as  a  talisman  of  victory  if  car- 
ried into  battle  by  the  clan  O'Donnell.  He  de- 
posited it  in  a  Belgian  monastery  and  left  in- 
structions by  will  that  it  was  to  be  given  to  the 
one  that  could  prove  himself  chief  of  the  O'Don- 
nells.    Through  an  Irish  abbot  it  was  restored 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  9 

to  Sir  Neale  O'Donnell  of  County  Mayo,  in  the 
last  century.  The  latter's  son,  Sir  Richard  A. 
O'Donnell,  entrusted  the  relic  to  the  Royal  Irish 
Academy,  in  whose  custody  it  still  remains. 

William  O'Shaughnessy 

William  O'Shaughnessy,  soldier  in  the  French 
army,  was  born  in  Ireland  in  1674.  When  a 
boy  of  fifteen  he  was  made  a  captain  of  foot  and 
afterwards  acting  colonel  in  the  army  of  King 
James  II.  Early  in  1690  he  went  to  France  with 
the  regiment  of  the  Irish  brigade  commanded  by 
Daniel  O'Brien  (afterwards  Viscount  Clare),  in 
which  he  was  appointed  captain  by  Louis  XIV., 
July  10,  1691.  He  served  in  Italy  in  1692,  and 
at  the  siege  of  Valenza,  in  1696,  he  was  made 
commandant  of  a  battalion  and  appointed  to  the 
army  of  the  Meuse.  In  1698  he  was  made  cap- 
tain of  grenadiers,  and  with  his  regiment,  one 
of  the  most  famous  in  the  Irish  brigade,  served 
in  Germany  in  the  campaigns  of  1701-2,  and  at 
the  memorable  battle  of  Blenheim,  August  13, 
1704,  against  the  British  and  Imperialists  under 
the  Duke  of  Marlborough  and  Prince  Eugene. 

In  1705  he  served  with  the  army  of  the  Mo- 
selle, fought  at  Ramillies  in  1706;  became  major 
on  the  death  of  John  O'Carrol,  and  on  September 
12th  of  the  latter  year,  lieutenant-colonel.  He 
was  with  his  regiment  in  Flanders  in  1707;  at 
Oudenarde  in  1708,  Malplaquet  in  1709,  at  the 
defense  of  the  lines  of  Arleux,  Denain,  Douai, 
Bouchain  and  Quesnoy  in  1710-12.  He  subse- 
quently served  in  the  campaigns  in  Germany,  in- 
cluding the  sieges  of  Landau  and  Freiberg,  and 
April  3,  1721,  was  made  brigadier-general. 

He  was  with  the  army  of  the  Rhine  in  1733 


lo  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

and  served  in  the  campaigns  of  1734-35,  attain- 
ing the  rank  of  major-general  (marechal-de- 
camp),  August  1,  1734.  He  again  served  v^ith 
the  army  in  Flanders  in  1742,  commanded  at 
Cambray  in  1743,  and  the  same  year  w^as  ap- 
pointed to  the  command  at  Gravelines,  w^here 
he  died,  w^ithout  issue,  January  2,  1744.  At  the 
time  of  his  death  he  v^as  the  oldest  Irish  major- 
general  in  the  service  of  France.  (See  O'Cal- 
laghan's  "Irish  Brigades  in  the  Service  of 
France,"  Glasgow,  1870.) 

Lavall  Nugent 

Lavall  Nugent,  Count,  field  marshal  in  the 
Austrian  army,  prince  of  the  Holy  Roman  Em- 
pire, descendant  of  the  first  Earl  of  West  Meath, 
v^as  born  at  Ballinacor,  County  Wicklow,  in  No- 
vember, 1777.  At  an  early  age  he  became  the 
heir  of  his  uncle,  Oliver  Count  Nugent.  He 
went  to  Austria  in  1789,  and  in  1794  entered  the 
Imperial  army,  where  his  abilities  soon  attract- 
ed notice.  After  the  battle  of  Varaggio,  in  1799, 
he  was  elected  a  Knight  of  the  Military  Order 
of  Maria  Theresa,  and  after  the  battle  of  Ma- 
rengo received  his  commission  as  major.  In 
1805  he  became  lieutenant-colonel,  in  1809 
major-general,  and  in  the  latter  year  was  pleni- 
potentiary to  the  congress  which  preceded  Na- 
poleon's marriage  to  Maria  Louisa. 

Refusing  to  sign  the  conditions  forced 
upon  the  exhausted  Austrians  by  Napoleon,  he 
retired  to  England  and  was  made  a  lieutenant- 
general  in  the  British  army.  In  1811  he  was 
sent  on  a  diplomatic  mission  to  Austria,  and  re- 
turned with  important  communications  relative 
to  the  coalition  against  Napoleon.     In  the  win- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  il 

ter  of  1812-13  he  was  sent  to  Spain  by  the 
British  government,  and  in  1813  he  resumed  the 
sword  for  Austria,  drove  the  French  out  of 
Illyria,  and  the  next  year  bore  a  leading  part 
in  the  successful  campaign  in  Italy.  He  was  ga- 
zetted a  British  K.  C.  B. 

In  1815  he  led  the  forces  in  Tuscany  that 
defeated  Murat,  and  in  the  summer  of  the  same 
year  commanded  in  the  South  of  France.  He 
next  became  captain-general  of  the  Neapolitan 
army,  but  in  1820  again  returned  to  the  Aus- 
trian service.  Although  commanding  in  Italy 
and  Hungary  in  1848,  he  took  no  very  active  part 
in  the  field.  In  1849  he  was  presented  with  the 
baton  of  a  field  marshal  and  honors  of  all  kinds 
were  showered  upon  him. 

He  was  present  with  his  old  companion, 
Radetsky,  in  Italy  during  the  war  with  Sar- 
dinia, and  accompanied  the  Emperor  of  Austria 
in  his  unfortunate  campaign  against  the  French 
and  Italians  in  1859.  Field  Marshal  Nugent 
married  the  Duchess  of  Riario  Sforza,  a  de- 
scendant of  Augustus  HI.,  King  of  Poland.  He 
died  on  his  estate  in  Croatia,  August  21,  1862. 
He  had  among  other  children  Prince  Albert, 
who  became  a  distinguished  Austrian  staff 
officer. 

Francis  MacDonnell 

Francis  MacDonnell,  major,  an  officer  in 
the  Austrian  service,  was  born  in  Connaught  in 
1656.  At  the  surprise  of  Cremona,  February  1, 
1702,  he  particularly  signalized  himself.  On 
that  occasion  he  took  Marshal  Villeroy  prisoner, 
and  reftised  brilliant  offers  of  rank  and  money 
to  connive  at  his  escape.  On  the  other  hand, 
he  was  dispatched  by  Prince  Eugene  to  attempt 


12  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

to  bring  over  the  Irish  regiments  under  Daniel 
O'Mahony,  whose  troops  formed  the  nucleus  of 
an  effective  resistance  to  the  Austrians.  Mac- 
Donnell's  mission  proved  fruitless  and  he  was 
made  prisoner,  but  was  soon  exchanged.  He 
fell  at  the  battle  of  Luzzara,  in  August,  1702. 

John  Joseph  Coppinger 

John  Joseph  Coppinger,  soldier,  was  born 
in  Queenstown,  County  Cork,  October  11,  1834. 
He  received  his  education  at  a  private  school  in 
his  native  country.  In  early  life  he.  went  to 
Italy  and  received  a  commission  in  the  papal 
army,  serving  in  the  campaign  of  1860  against 
Victor  Emmanuel.  He  rose  to  the  rank  of  cap- 
tain, and  was  made  a  Knight  of  St.  Gregory 
for  bravery  at  the  defense  of  La  Rocca  gate, 
where  he  was  made  prisoner. 

In  1861  he  came  to  the  United  States,  and 
on  the  recommendation  of  Archbishop  Hughes 
was  commissioned  captain  of  the  14th  infantry 
in  the  regular  army,  and  served  throughout  the 
civil  war.  Coppinger  was  severely  wounded  at 
the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run;  was  brevetted 
major,  June  12,  1864,  and  lieutenant-colonel,  Oc- 
tober 19,  1864,  for  gallant  and  meritorious  service 
at  the  battles  of  Trevillian  Station  and  Cedar 
Creek,  Va.  He  was  made  colonel  of  the  15th 
New  York  cavalry,  January  27,  1865. 

After  the  war  he  served  principally  on  the 
frontier  in  a  number  of  Indian  campaigns.  He 
was  brevetted  colonel  December  1,  1868;  ap- 
pointed major  of  the  10th  infantry,  March  20, 
1879,  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  18th  infantry, 
October  31,  1883,  and  colonel  of  the  23rd  infan- 
try January  15,  1891.    April  25,  1895,  Coppinger 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  13 

was    commissioned    brigadier-general    in    com- 
mand of  the  Platte. 

When  the  Spanish-American  war  broke  out 
he  was  made  major-general  of  volunteers,  May 
4,  1898,  and  commanded  the  4th  army  corps. 
Coppinger  was  retired  by  operation  of  the  age 
law,  October  11,  1898.  He  died  at  Washington, 
D.  C.,  November  4,  1909,  and  was  buried  in  Ar- 
lington cemetery.  He  married  Alice,  daughter 
of  James  G.  Blaine,  the  great  American  states- 
man. He  was  survived  by  two  sons,  Blaine  and 
Conor  Coppinger. 

Denis  Francis  Burke 

Denis  Francis  Burke,  soldier,  was  born  at 
Cork,  April  19,  1841.  At  the  age  of  fourteen 
he  emigrated  to  the  United  States,  and  was  en- 
gaged in  business  in  New  York  City  until  the 
beginning  of  the  civil  war.  He  joined  the  Union 
army  in  1861,  served  under  General  Thomas 
Francis  Meagher,  fought  in  all  the  battles  of 
the  famous  Irish  brigade,  and  was  wounded  sev- 
eral times.  Early  in  the  war  he  was  made  first 
lieutenant  for  gallantry  at  the  battle  of  Mal- 
vern Hill,  and  captain  for  bravery  at  Antietam. 

He  was  personally  commended  by  General 
Hancock  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg;  and 
Burke  was  subsequently  made  brigadier-general 
by  brevet.  While  on  a  visit  to  Ireland,  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  he  was  imprisoned  by  the  Brit- 
ish government  for  several  months  as  a  Fenian 
suspect.  After  his  release  he  returned  to  the 
United  States  and  received  an  appointment  in 
the  Custom  House  at  New  York  City.  Burke 
edited  the  Emerald  and  the  Irish  People.  He 
died  at  New  York  City,  October  19,  1893. 


14  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Andrew  Thomas  McReynolds 

Andrew  Thomas  McReynolds,  soldier  and 
lawyer,  was  born  in  Dungannon,  County  Tyrone, 
December  25,  1808.  He  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1830,  lived  at  Pittsburg  until  1833, 
when  he  removed  to  Detroit,  Mich.  In  1834  he 
was  appointed  on  the  staff  of  General  Williams, 
with  the  rank  of  major,  and  was  one  of  the  or- 
ganizers of  the  Brady  Guards.  In  1838  he  was 
an  alderman  of  Detroit.  In  1839  he  represented 
his  district  in  the  State  Legislature,  and  was  a 
delegate  to  the  Harrisburg  convention  that  nomi- 
nated General  Harrison  as  the  Whig  candidate 
for  the  presidency.  In  1840  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar,  and  the  same  year  helped  to  organize  the 
Montgomery  Guards,  of  which  he  was  made  the 
first  captain.  He  was  also  colonel  of  the  First 
Regiment  of  Michigan  militia,  1840-51;  Indian 
agent  for  Michigan,  1842-45,  and  in  1846  was 
elected  state  senator  from  Detroit.  In  1847  Mc- 
Reynolds was  commissioned  captain  of  dragoons 
in  the  United  States  army  and  served  under  Gen- 
eral Scott  in  the  war  with  Mexico.  He  was  made 
major  for  bravery  in  this  campaign,  and  in  the 
charge  of  the  dragoons,  under  McReynolds  and 
Philip  Kearney,  on  the  gates  of  the  City  of  Mex- 
ico, both  officers  received  wounds  they  bore 
through  life.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned 
to  Detroit  and  resumed  the  practice  of  law.  In 
1851  he  was  elected  prosecuting  attorney  of 
Wayne  County,  and  in  1852  the  first  president 
of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Detroit  under  its 
charter. 

At  the  opening  of  the  civil  war  he  was  com- 
missioned colonel  and  organized  and  led  the  Lin- 
coln cavalry  to  the  field.    This,  the  first  regiment 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  15 

of  cavalry  enlisted  for  the  Union  army,  he  com- 
manded in  1861,  subsequently  a  brigade  for  two 
years,  a  division  for  six  months,  and  w^as  honor- 
ably discharged  in  August,  1864.  Returning  to 
Michigan  he  resumed  the  practice  of  law  at 
Grand  Rapids,  and  was  appointed  United  States 
District  Attorney  for  western  Michigan  by 
President  Johnson.  In  1874  he  was  elected  pros- 
ecuting attorney  for  Muskegon  County  and 
served  until  1876.  McReynolds  was  for  many 
years  president  of  the  State  Association  of  Mex- 
ican Veterans.  He  died  at  Muskegon,  Mich., 
November  25,  1898. 

Michael  Kelly  Lawler 

Michael  Kelly  Lawler,  soldier,  was  born  in 
County  Kildare,  November  16,  1814.  He  came 
with  his  parents  to  the  United  States  in  1816 
and  settled  near  Shawneetown,  111.  He  served 
in  the  Black  Hawk  war  and  afterwards  organ- 
ized a  company  of  infantry  for  service  in  the 
war  with  Mexico,  which  was  taken  into  the 
United  States  army  June  29,  1846.  He  served 
as  captain  until  the  end  of  the  war  and  was 
mustered  out  of  service,  October  26,  1848. 

When  the  civil  war  broke  out  he  organ- 
ized and  was  made  colonel  of  the  18th  regiment 
of  Illinois  Infantry  and  took  the  field  in  the 
spring  of  1861.  His  regiment  led  the  advance 
on  Fort  Henry  and  also  at  Fort  Donelson.  No- 
vember 29,  1862,  he  was  commissioned  briga- 
dier-general of  volunteers  for  gallant  and  mer- 
itorious service.  His  command,  afterwards 
known  as  the  "Iron  Clad  Brigade,"  covered  itself 
with  glory  at  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  especially 
in  successfully  storming  the  enemy's  works  on 


i6  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

the  Big  Black  river.  Charles  A.  Dana,  assist- 
ant secretary  of  war,  said  of  this  charge:  **It 
was  one  of  the  most  splendid  exploits  of  the 
war,  and  it  was  astonishing  in  going  over  the 
field  to  see  how  few  of  Lawler's  brave  followers 
had  fallen  in  so  audacious  an  onset." 

After  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  General  Lawler 
joined  General  Sherman,  and  later  fought  under 
General  Banks.  He  also  served  some  months  in 
Texas  and  in  Louisiana.  March  13,  1865,  he  was 
made  a  major-general  by  brevet.  He  was  mus- 
tered out  of  service  January  15,  1866,  having 
served  over  four  and  one-half  years,  during 
which  time  he  engaged  in  many  battles,  sieges 
and  skirmishes. 

In  1837  he  married  Elizabeth  Crenshaw,  by 
whom  he  had  a  numerous  family.  He  was  a 
Catholic  in  religion  and  a  Democrat  in  politics. 
General  Lawler  died  July  26,  1882. 

Eyre  Massey 

Eyre  Massey,  Baron  Clarina,  was  born  in 
County  Limerick,  May  24,  1719.  He  entered  the 
British  army  at  an  early  age,  and  was  wounded 
at  Culloden  in  1745.  In  1757  he  went  to  North 
America  as  a  major  of  the  46th  Foot,  of  which 
he  became  lieutenant-colonel  in  1758,  and  the 
year  after  commanded  the  regiment  in  the  expe- 
dition to  Niagara.  He  was  commandant  in  the 
action  at  La  Belle  Famille,  where  he  defeated 
the  French,  leaving  the  whole  region  of  the  Up- 
per Ohio  in  possession  of  the  English.  He 
fought  under  Wolfe  at  Quebec,  and  captured 
Fort  Oswegachie  in  August  1760.  He  com- 
manded a  battalion  of  grenadiers  at  the  capture 
of  Martinique  in  1761,  and  at  the  head  of  the 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  17 

storming  party  that  took  Morro  castle,  Havana, 
in  1762,  he  was  again  wounded.  During  the  revo- 
lutionary war  he  was  a  major-general  in  com- 
mand at  Halifax.  He  was  subsequently  made  a 
full  general.  Governor  of  Limerick  and  of  Kil- 
mainham  Hospital,  and  created  an  Irish  peer,  De- 
cember 27,  1800. 

He  died  at  Bath,  May  17,  1804,  being  one  of 
the  last  survivors  who  served  under  Wolfe  in 
Canada.  He  married  Catherine,  sister  of  Robert 
Clements,  first  Earl  of  Leitrim,  by  whom  he  had 
four  children.  Two  of  his  successors  in  the  title 
— his  son,  Nathaniel  William,  a  major-general  on 
the  staff  in  the  West  Indies,  died  in  1810;  his 
great-grandson,  the  fourth  baron,  served  in  the 
Crimea  and  in  the  Indian  mutiny.  Lionel  E. 
Massey,  fifth  baron,  born  in  1837,  is  the  present 
representative  of  the  family. 

Humphrey  Hunter 

Humphrey  Hunter,  patriot  and  soldier,  was 
born  near  Londonderry,  May  14,  1755.  His  fa- 
ther died  when  he  was  four  years  old  and  his  wid- 
owed mother  emigrated  with  her  family  to  Amer- 
ica, reaching  Charleston,  S.  C,  August  27,  1759. 
A  few  days  after  her  arrival  she  removed  to 
Mecklenburg  County,  N.  C.  (now  Cabarrus), 
where  she  purchased  a  small  farm,  and  remained 
the  rest  of  her  life.  In  this  neighborhood  young 
Humphrey  grew  up,  acquiring  the  principles  and 
spirit  of  freedom. 

He  attended  the  convention  held  at  Char- 
lotte, N.  C,  May  20,  1775,  that  adopted  the  first 
public  declaration  of  independence  in  America, 
known  as  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence.   He  later  joined  an  expedition  against 


i8  IRISH  BIOGRArHY 

the  Cherokee  Indians,  who  were  committing 
depredations  among  the  inhabitants  near  the 
source  of  the  Catawba  river.  After  his  return  he 
resumed  his  studies  at  Liberty  Hall  Academy, 
but  upon  the  approach  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  after 
the  surrender  of  Charleston,  the  young  men  of 
the  academy  left  to  take  up  arms  in  defense  of 
their  country.  Hunter  was  made  lieutenant  of 
a  company  and  at  the  battle  of  Camden,  August 
6,  1780,  he  witnessed  the  brave  Baron  De  Kalb 
fall  mortally  wounded.  At  this  battle  Hunter 
was  made  prisoner  of  war  and  confined  seven 
days  in  a  prison  yard  at  Camden,  being  then  sent 
to  Orangeburg,  S.  C,  where  he  remained  several 
months  without  coat  or  hat.  November  15,  1780, 
he  made  his  escape,  with  several  others,  and  set 
out  for  Mecklenburg,  traveling  only  by  night, 
and  supporting  himself  on  raw  corn.  After  re- 
maining with  his  mother  a  few  days  he  again 
joined  the  army,  acting  as  lieutenant  of  cavalry 
under  Colonel  Henry  Lee.  At  the  battle  of  Eu- 
taw  Springs  he  fought  with  distinguished  gal- 
lantry and  was  slightly  wounded.  This  being  the 
last  important  battle  in  the  South,  he  saw  no 
further  military  service,  and  in  the  summer  of 
1785  entered  Mt.  Zion  College  at  Winnsborough, 
S.  C,  where  he  graduated  in  July,  1787. 

He  next  commenced  the  study  of  theology 
and  obtained  a  license  to  preach  in  October,  1789. 
In  December  of  that  year  he  married  Jane  Ross 
of  Laurens  District,  S.  C.  In  1796  he  removed 
with  his  family  to  Lincoln  County  (now  Gas- 
ton), purchased  a  home,  and  resided  there  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life.  From  1805  until  his  death 
Hunter  was  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at 
Steele  Creek,  N.  C,  where  he  died,  August  21, 
1827.    He  had  ten  children. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  19 

Henry  Pottinger 

Sir  Henry  Pottinger,  soldier  and  diplomat, 
was  born  at  Mount  Pottinger,  County  Leitrim, 
October  3,  1789.  He  went  to  India  as  a  cadet  in 
1804,  where  he  studied  the  native  languages,  and 
in  1810  volunteered  with  Captain  Christie  for  the 
difficult  task  of  exploring  the  countries  between 
the  Indus  and  Persia.  They  traveled  disguised 
as  Mohammedan  merchants — a  disguise  that  re- 
quired all  their  tact  and  linguistic  abilities  to 
maintain.  After  exploring  districts  which  had 
not  been  visited  by  Europeans  since  the  time  of 
Alexander  the  Great,  they  returned  to  Bombay 
in  1811.  A  few  years  afterwards  he  gave  their 
experiences  to  the  world  in  an  interesting  work, 
entitled  "Travels  in  Beloochistan  and  Sinde." 

Pottinger  was  then  employed  for  seven 
years  as  judge  and  collector  at  Ahmednuggar  in 
the  Deccan,  and  then  for  fifteen  years  as  political 
resident  at  Cutch  and  Sinde.  His  services  in 
these  situations  were  rewarded  with  a  baronetcy 
after  the  Afghanistan  campaign  in  1839.  In  the 
following  3^ear  he  returned  to  England,  but  had 
scarcely  landed  when  war  broke  out  between 
Great  Britain  and  China  owing  to  the  disputes 
connected  with  the  opium  trade.  In  this  emer- 
gency Pottinger  was  sent  to  China  as  envoy  ex- 
traordinary, and  minister  plenipotentiary,  for  the 
purpose  of  adjusting  the  matters  in  dispute.  On 
his  arrival  at  Macao,  August  12,  1841,  he  issued 
a  proclamation,  declaring  that  it  was  his  inten- 
tion to  direct  his  undivided  energies  to  the  pri- 
mary object  of  securing  a  speedy  and  satisfac- 
tory termination  of  the  war.  In  concert  with  Ad- 
miral Parker  he  devised  measures  which  soon  led 
to  the  capture  of  Amoy,  and  brought  hostilities 


20  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

to  a  successful  issue.  A  treaty  was  concluded 
with  the  Chinese  in  1842,  which  opened  the  ports 
of  the  Celestial  Empire  and  forced  that  country 
to  pay  an  indemnity  of  $21,000,000. 

For  these  services  Pottinger  was  rewarded 
with  the  Grand  Cross  of  the  Order  of  the  Bath, 
and  was  subsequently  appointed  governor  and 
commander-in-chief  of  the  island  of  Hong  Kong. 
On  his  return  to  England  in  1844  he  was  made  a 
member  of  the  privy  council,  and  a  pension  of 
£  1,500  a  year  was  conferred  upon  him.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1846,  he  was  appointed  governor  of  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  an  office  which  he  held  until 
September  of  the  following  year,  when  he  was 
again  sent  to  India,  as  governor  of  Madras. 

The  highest  military  rank  he  attained  ap- 
pears to  have  been  that  of  major-general  in  the 
service  of  the  East  India  Company.  He  mar- 
ried, in  1820,  Susanna  M.  Cook,  of  Dublin,  by 
whom  he  had  three  sons  and  one  daughter.  Pot- 
tinger died  at  Malta,  March  18,  1856.  Major 
Eldred  Pottinger,  nephew  of  Sir  Henry  and  a 
soldier  in  India,  died  in  1843.  Sir  Henry  Pot- 
tinger, third  baronet,  second  son  of  the  first  bar- 
onet, born  in  1834,  is  the  present  representative 
of  the  family. 

John  Nicholson 

John  Nicholson,  brigadier-general,  son  of  an 
Irish  physician.  Dr.  Alexander  Nicholson,  was 
born  in  Dublin,  December  11,  1821.  He  lost  his 
father  when  eight  years  old,  whereupon  his 
mother  moved  to  Lisburn,  and  he  received  most 
of  his  education  at  Dungannon  School.  In  1837 
he  obtained  an  appointment  as  ensign  in  the  In- 
dian army  and  joined  the  41st  Native  Infantry 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  21 

at  Benares.  He  took  part  in  the  Afghan  war 
of  1842,  saw  some  severe  fighting  and  endured  a 
miserable  captivity  of  some  months.  On  the  6th 
of  November  of  the  same  year  his  brother  Alex- 
ander was  killed  in  action  in  India.  In  1846  he 
was  appointed  one  of  two  military  instructors  to 
Gholab  Singh's  army  in  Cashmere,  and  the  next 
year  assistant  to  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  resident 
at  Lahore.  There  his  great  executive  ability  be- 
came apparent,  and  he  was  intrusted  by  his  chief 
with  several  important  missions. 

In  the  Sikh  war  of  1848  he  specially  distin- 
guished himself  at  Attock  and  the  Margulla 
Pass.  His  services  were  fully  acknowledged  in 
Lord  Cough's  dispatches.  In  1849,  when  the 
Punjaub  became  a  British  province.  Captain 
Nicholson,  then  but  twenty-eight,  was  appointed 
a  deputy  commissioner  under  the  Lahore  Board, 
of  which  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  was  president.  In 
1850  he  left  for  home  on  furlough,  on  his  way 
engaging  in  an  unsuccessful  plot  to  liberate  Kos- 
suth from  captivity  in  a  Turkish  fortress. 

On  his  return  to  India  in  1851  he  was  reap- 
pointed to  his  old  post  in  the  Punjaub  and  for 
several  years  did  good  service  as  an  adminis- 
trator and  governor.  The  breaking  out  of  the 
mutiny  in  May,  1857,  found  him  Colonel  Nichol- 
son, at  Peshawur.  Here  he  acted  with  great 
promptitude,  removing  a  large  treasure  to  a  place 
of  safety,  dismissing  some  native  regiments 
under  circumstances  that  required  consummate 
tact  and  decision,  and  at  Murdan,  on  the  25th  of 
May,  helped  to  put  to  rout  a  force  of  the  muti- 
neers. On  this  occasion  he  was  fully  twenty 
hours  in  the  saddle,  traversed  not  less  than 
seventy  miles,  and  cut  down  many  fugitives  with 
his  own  hand. 


22  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

On  the  22nd  of  June  he  took  command  of  a 
movable  column  for  the  relief  of  Delhi,  annihi- 
lated a  large  force  of  the  enemy  at  Trimmoo,  and 
on  the  14th  of  August  effected  a  junction  with 
the  small  band  of  British  at  Delhi.  Ten  days 
afterwards  he  fought  the  battle  of  Nujufgurh,  in 
which  between  3,000  and  4,000  mutineers  were 
slain.  Already  he  had  been  created  brigadier- 
general.  On  the  14th  of  September,  while  lead- 
ing an  attack  on  a  Sepoy  position,  he  was  mor- 
tally wounded,  and  died  September  23,  1857. 

Sir  John  Lawrence,  writing  a  few  weeks 
later  to  his  brother,  Lieutenant  Charles  Nichol- 
son, who  lost  a  foot  in  the  same  engagement, 
said:  "His  loss  is  a  national  misfortune,"  and 
he  remarked  in  a  dispatch:  "He  was  an  officer 
equal  to  any  emergency.  .  .  .  His  services  since 
the  mutiny  broke  out  have  not  been  surpassed  by 
those  of  any  other  officer  in  this  part  of  India." 
His  friend  and  fellow-countryman,  Sir  Henry 
Lawrence,  fell  shortly  before  him. 

Nicholson  was  never  married.  A  pension  of 
£500  a  year  was  granted  by  the  East  India  Com- 
pany to  his  mother,  and  it  was  officially  an- 
nounced that,  had  he  survived,  he  would  have 
been  created  a  Knight  Commander  of  the  Bath. 

Charles  William  Vane  Stewart 

Charles  William  Vane  Stewart,  third  Mar- 
quis of  Londonderry  (half-brother  of  Robert 
Stewart,  Viscount  Castlereagh,  second  Marquis 
of  Londonderry)  was  born  in  Dublin,  May  18, 
1778.  At  the  age  of  fifteen,  as  ensign  of  an  in- 
fantry regiment,  he  accompanied  Lord  Moira 
to  the  Netherlands  and  took  part  in  the  campaign 
of  1794.     Subsequently,  while  attached  to  the 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  23 

British  mission  at  Vienna,  he  was  severely 
wounded  at  the  battle  of  Donauwerth.  In  1797 
he  was  made  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  5th  Dra- 
goons and  served  in  Holland  under  Sir  Ralph 
Abercrombie,  and  in  1803  was  made  under-secre- 
tary  in  Ireland. 

He  next  commanded  a  hussar  brigade  under 
Sir  John  Moore  in  the  Peninsular  war,  and  cov- 
ered the  retreat  of  the  British  army  at  Corunna 
with  great  skill  and  valor.  After  a  few  months' 
absence  in  England  he  returned  to  the  Peninsula, 
as  adjutant-general  under  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley 
(afterwards  the  Duke  of  Wellington),  and  distin- 
guished himself  at  Fuentes  d'Orono,  Talavera, 
and  other  battles.  In  1813  Stewart  was  ap- 
pointed British  minister  to  Prussia,  and  during 
the  campaign  of  1814  he  acted  as  military  com- 
missioner to  the  armies  of  the  allied  sovereigns, 
and  induced  Bernadotte  to  co-operate  with  the  al- 
lies at  Leipsic.  In  June,  1814,  he  was  raised  to 
the  peerage  as  Lord  Stewart,  and  in  July  of  the 
same  year  was  appointed  British  ambassador  to 
Austria. 

At  the  congress  of  Chatillon  he  was  actively 
engaged  in  many  of  the  operations,  both  civil  and 
military,  that  led  to  the  Peace  of  Paris,  and,  after 
the  battle  of  Waterloo,  to  the  second  Treaty  of 
Paris,  in  November,  1815.  In  1819  he  married 
his  second  wife,  Frances  Anne,  only  daughter  and 
heiress  of  Sir  Harry  Vane  Tempest,  and  assumed 
the  name  and  arms  of  Vane.  By  this  marriage 
he  became  the  owner  of  vast  estates  in  County 
Durham.  In  1822,  on  the  death  of  his  brother, 
he  succeeded  to  the  title  of  Marquis  of  London- 
derry. The  same  year  he  acted,  with  the  Duke 
of  Wellington,  as  plenipotentiary  at  the  Con- 
gress of  Verona. 


24  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

In  politics  Stewart  was  an  uncompromising 
Tory.  He  supported  Catholic  Emancipation, 
but  offered  a  steady  opposition  to  the  Reform 
bill.  In  1835  Sir  Robert  Peel  appointed  him  am- 
bassador to  Russia,  but  Stewart  withdrew  the 
same  year  owing  to  parliamentary  opposition.  In 
1837  he  attained  the  rank  of  general.  In  1839  he 
fought  a  duel  with  Henry  Grattan,  Jr.,  over  po- 
litical differences.  He  was  a  warm  friend  of 
Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  who  was  a  frequent 
visitor  at  Stewart's  residence  in  Wynyard  Park. 

He  represented  Thomastown  in  Parliament 
from  1798  to  1800  and  County  Derrv  from  1800 
to  1814.  In  1828  he  published  the  "Story  of  the 
Peninsular  War";  in  1841,  "The  War  in  Germany 
and  France  in  1813-14,"  and  in  1848-53,  "Mem- 
oirs and  Correspondence  of  Viscount  Castle- 
reagh."    He  died  at  London,  March  6,  1854. 

His  son,  William  Robert,  who  inherited  the 
title,  died  November  25,  1872;  and  George,  the 
5th  marquis,  born  April  26,  1821,  died  November 
6,  1884.  The  latter's  son,  the  6th  marquis,  born 
in  London,  July  16,  1852,  was  member  of  Par- 
liament for  County  Down,  1878-84,  viceroy  of 
Ireland,  1886-89,  and  chairman  of  the  London 
School  Board,  1895-97. 

Robert  RoUo  Gillespie 

Sir  Robert  Rollo  Gillespie,  soldier,  was  born 
in  Comber,  County  Down,  January  21,  1766.  He 
entered  the  Carabineers,  as  a  cornet,  in  April, 
1783,  served  in  St.  Domingo  against  Toussaint 
L'Ouverture,  became  a  major  in  1796,  and  a  lieu- 
tenant-colonel in  1799.  Before  his  return  to  Eng- 
land with  his  regiment,  in  1802,  he  received  a 
vote  of  thanks  from  the  House  of  Assembly  in 


«# 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 


tics  Stewart  wa 
upported    C 
t  steady  (>,j 
Sir  Rober' 

/car  owing 
=e  attained 
a  duel  witu 
.;.   differences 
Louis  Napoleon 
visitor  at  Ste^ 
He  reprv 
in>m  1798  tc 
to  1814.    In  ^ 
Peninsular  \^ 


'  mi  sing 

pition, 

j'leform 

d  him  am- 

i"W  the 

ion.  In 

g^enerai.    In  1839  he 

Man,  Jr.,  over  po- 

I    warm  friend   of 

iftc,  who  was  a  frequent 

•  Wynyard  Park. 

•wn  in  Parliament 

,ity  Derry  from  1800 

led  the  "Story  of  '  : 

fhe  War  in  Geriv^ 


:c^  '::!m'^^^->mMM^iL 


reagh."  He 
His  son, 
title,  died  N' 
5th  marquis, 
6,  1884.  Th< 
in  London,  J 
liament  for  • 
Ireland,   188< 


:don,  March  6,  18"^  *    • 
obert,  who  inhent-d  the 
.  1872;  and  ^' 
:  26,  1821,  die.; 
<  son,  the  6th  marquis,  born 
1852,  was  member  of  Par- 
Down,  1878-84,  viceroy  of 
1  chairman  of  the  London 


School  Board,  16^^97. 


Robert  Hollo  Giliesbic 


Sir  Robert  ^  >!!■>  Gillespie,  soldier,  was  born 
in  Comber,  C  )own,  Jyniiary  21,  1766.    He 

entered  the  s,  as  a  r^rnet,  in  April, 

1783,  served    .    -       .    .mingo  ag.^inst  Toussaint 
L'Ouverture,  became  a  major  in  1796,  and  a  lieu 
tcnnnt-colonel  in  1799.    Before  his  return  to  Eng- 
land with  his  regiment,  in  1802,  he  received  a 
vAU'  of  thanks  from  the  House  of  Assembly  in 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  2$ 

Jamaica.  Shortly  afterwards  he  was  acquitted 
of  charges  brought  against  him  at  a  court- 
martial,  for  his  management  of  the  20th  Light 
Dragoons,  with  which  regiment  he  had  been 
connected. 

In  1805  he  proceeded  across  the  continent  of 
Europe  to  India  (at  Hamburg  being  saved  from 
falling  into  the  hands  of  the  French  by  the  inter- 
position of  his  countryman,  Napper  Tandy),  and 
was  instrumental  in  suppressing  the  mutiny  at 
Vellore  in  1806.  He  saw  much  active  service  in 
Java,  rose  to  be  a  colonel,  and  on  the  surrender 
of  the  island  to  the  British  was  appointed  mili- 
tary governor. 

In  1812  he  led  an  expedition  against  Su- 
matra, deposed  one  sultan  and  installed  another 
favorable  to  the  British.  He  received  the  special 
thanks  of  the  governor-general  in  Council  of 
India,  and  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major- 
general,  April  1,  1812.  In  1814  he  was  engaged 
in  the  invasion  of  Nepal,  and  fell  heading  his 
troops  in  the  unsuccessful  effort  to  take  the  fort 
of  Kalunga,  October  31,  1814.  He  was  after  his 
death  gazetted  Knight  Commander  of  the  Bath. 
A  monument  has  been  erected  to  his  memory  at 
Comber.  As  a  commanding  officer  Gillespie  was 
well  liked  by  his  men  and  admired  for  his  splen- 
did courage. 

King  Leary 

Leary,  or  Laegaire,  monarch  of  Ireland  from 
427  to  457.  His  reign  was  rendered  memorable 
by  the  advent  of  St.  Patrick,  and  by  the  arrange- 
ment of  Irish  laws  and  customs  in  the  Senchus 
Mor.  The  collection  and  compilation  of  the  Sen- 
chus Mor  was  brought  about  by  Leary  calling  a 
general  convention  in  which  the  kings,  clergy  and 


26  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

sages  of  Ireland  were  assembled  together  for  the 
purpose  of  purifying  the  national  records.  The 
convention  selected  nine  of  its  members  for  the 
duty — three  kings,  three  bishops  and  three  sages. 
By  these  nine  the  traditions  were  arranged  and 
classified.  Professor  O'Curry  considered  "the 
recorded  account  of  this  great  revision  of  the 
body  of  the  laws  of  Erin  is  as  fully  entitled  to 
confidence  as  any  other  well-authenticated  fact 
in  ancient  history."  The  work,  we  are  told,  was 
composed  at  "Tara  in  the  summer  and  in  the 
autumn,  on  account  of  its  cleanness  and  pleasant- 
ness during  these  seasons;  and  Lisanawer,  near 
Nobber,  was  the  place  during  the  winter  and  the 
spring,  on  account  of  the  nearness  of  its  firewood 
and  water,  and  on  account  of  its  warmth  in  the 
time  of  winter's  cold." 

Although  his  wife  was  a  convert  to  Chris- 
tianity, Leary  continued  in  his  old  faith — never- 
theless giving  every  facility  for  the  spread  of 
Christianity.  Leary  was  killed  by  lightning  in 
457,  and  was  buried  upright  in  the  ramparts  of 
Tara,  "as  if  in  the  midst  of  warriors  standing  up 
in  battle."  The  republication  of  the  Senchus 
Mor,  with  a  translation  and  notes,  was  com- 
menced by  order  of  the  British  government  in 
1865,  from  MSS.  in  Trinity  College  and  the 
British  Museum,  the  oldest  dating  from  the  early 
part  of  the  14th  century. 

King  Malachy  I. 

Malachy  L,  monarch  of  Ireland,  reigned,  ac- 
cording to  the  "Four  Masters,"  from  843  to  860. 
Before  his  accession  he  brought  about  the  assas- 
sination of  Turgesius,  the  Danish  king,  and  the 
expulsion  of  the  Northmen  from  Ireland;  but 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  7.y 

they  returned  in  force  before  long,  and  his  reign 
was  marked  by  constant  descents  and  depreda- 
tions of  the  Danes  and  Norwegians.  His  reign 
was  also  notable  for  a  regal  convention,  which 
he  called  at  Rathhugh,  in  the  present  County  of 
West  Meath. 

King  Malachy  II. 

Malachy  II.,  monarch  of  Ireland,  flourished 
from  980  to  1022,  the  rival,  and  afterwards  the 
tributary  of  Brian  Boru.  He  succeeded  to  the 
nominal  sovereignty  of  Ireland  in  980,  soon  after 
Brian  became  King  of  Munster.  He  married  a 
sister  of  Sitric,  the  Danish  King  of  Dublin;  and 
after  the  death  of  his  father,  his  mother  married 
Olaf,  a  renowned  warrior  of  the  same  nation. 
The  early  part  of  Malachy's  reign  was  spent  in 
constant  contentions  with  Brian  and  other  Irish 
chiefs,  and  with  his  connections,  the  Northmen. 
Upon  more  than  one  occasion  he  inflicted  severe 
defeats  on  the  latter,  carrying  away  2,000  host- 
ages, jewels,  and  other  valuables,  and  "freed  the 
country  from  tribute  and  taxation  from  the  Shan- 
non to  the  Sea";  and  referred  to  by  Moore  in  his 
"Irish  Melodies"  as  one  who  "wore  the  collar  of 
gold,  which  we  won  from  her  proud  invader." 

In  982  he  invaded  Thomond  and  rooted  up 
and  cut  to  pieces  the  great  tree  in  County  Clare, 
under  which  Brian  and  his  ancestors  of  the  Dal- 
cassian  line  had  been  crowned,  and  where  for 
generations  they  had  received  the  first  homage 
of  their  subjects.  Eventually  Brian  and  Malachy 
had  to  lay  aside  their  feuds  and  unite  against  the 
common  enemy,  and  in  the  year  1000  they  de- 
feated the  Northmen  at  Glenmama,  near  Dun- 
lavin,  in  County  Wicklow.  In  1002  Brian,  whose 
power  had  been  gradually  increasing,  marched 


28  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

to  Tara,  deposed  Malachy,  and  assumed  the  su- 
preme sovereignty.  Malachy  not  only  submitted, 
but  appears  to  have  entered  into  Brian's  plans 
for  the  government  of  the  country,  and  helped 
him  in  his  operations  against  the  Northmen. 

After  the  battle  of  Clontarf  and  Brian's 
death,  April  23,  1014,  Malachy  again  assumed  the 
supreme  authority  in  Ireland.  His  energy  in  fol- 
lowing up  the  struggle  refuted  the  calumny  that 
he  secretly  favored  the  Northmen  in  the  fight. 
He  reigned  eight  years  after  the  death  of  Brian, 
and  is  mentioned  as  the  founder  of  churches  and 
schools;  but  the  annals  of  the  time  show  that  the 
latter  years  of  his  life  were  passed  chiefly  in  plun- 
dering expeditions  in  various  parts  of  the  island 
and  sanguinary  contentions  with  the  chiefs  who 
owed  him  a  nominal  allegiance.  Malachy  died 
at  Cormorant  Island,  in  Lough  Ennel,  near  Mul- 
lingar,  in  1023.  A  month  before  he  had  defeated 
the  Northmen  of  Dublin  at  Athboy. 

Turlough  O'Conor 

Turlough  O'Conor,  monarch  of  Ireland  and 
King  of  Connaught,  was  born  in  1088.  He  was 
son  of  Roderic  O'Conor,  who  died  in  the  mon- 
astery of  Clonmacnois,  where  he  resided  after  be- 
ing blinded  by  the  O'Flahertys.  Turlough  con- 
quered the  princes  of  Ireland  in  the  south  and 
west,  and  according  to  Keating  held  the  nominal 
sovereignty  of  Ireland  from  1126  to  1156;  but  the 
Irish  princes  were  engaged  in  continual  hostili- 
ties among  themselves  and  with  the  Northmen 
during  his  reign. 

In  1153  he  subdued  Dermot  MacMurrough, 
King  of  Leinster,  and  compelled  him  to  return 
Devorgilla  to  her  husband  (O'Rourke,  Prince  of 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  29 

Brefny),  with  whom  he  had  eloped  a  short  time 
previously.  We  are  told  that  he  established  a 
mint  at  Clonmacnois,  built  bridges  across  the 
Shannon  at  Athlone,  also  near  Shannon  harbor, 
and  across  the  Suck  at  Ballinasloe,  and  that  he 
was  a  munificent  friend  of  the  Church.  He  died 
in  1156,  and  was  interred  in  the  church  of  St. 
Ciaran  at  Clonmacnois. 

Cathal  Crovderg  O'Conor 

Cathal  Crovderg  O'Conor,  Prince  of  Con- 
naught,  succeeded  as  head  of  the  O'Conors  on 
his  brother  Rodericks  death  in  1198.  The  early 
part  of  his  reign  was  passed  in  contests  with  the 
Anglo-Normans  and  with  his  nephew,  Cathal 
Carrach,  who  at  one  time  succeeded  in  expelling 
him  from  his  territories.  In  1201,  however, 
Cathal  Crovderg,  with  the  assistance  of  the  De- 
Burgos,  defeated  and  slew  his  nephew  in  battle 
near  Boyle. 

On  King  John's  arrival  in  Ireland  Cathal 
paid  him  homage,  and  by  the  surrender  of  a  por- 
tion of  his  territories  secured  to  himself  a  toler- 
ably peaceful  old  age.  He  died  in  the  abbey  of 
Knockmoy  (having  assumed  the  habit  of  a  Grey 
Friar),  in  1224.  The  principal  abode  of  the  heads 
of  the  O'Conor  family  at  this  period  was  at  Rath- 
croghan,  near  Tulsk,  in  County  Roscommon. 
His  son  Felim  was  confirmed  in  his  estates  by 
the  king,  while  another  Felim,  a  descendant, 
joined  Edward  Bruce,  and  fell  in  battle  at  Ath- 
lone, August  16,  1316. 

Dermot  MacMurrough 

Dermot  MacMurrough,  historically  con- 
nected with  the  Anglo-Norman  invasion  of  Ire- 


30  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

land,  was  King  of  Leinster,  and  a  man  of  cruel, 
treacherous,  and  violent  nature.  He  was  born  in 
1090.  The  abduction  of  Devorgilla — the  wife  of 
his  enemy  O'Rourke,  Prince  of  Brefny — in  1153 
led  to  an  inextinguishable  feud  between  these 
chiefs.  Upon  the  accession  of  Roderic  O'Conor 
as  King  of  Ireland  in  1166,  a  large  force  under 
O'Rourke  was  mustered  against  Dermot,  who,  in 
despair,  set  fire  to  his  capital  of  Ferns;  fled  to 
Bristol  and  then  to  France,  where  King  Henry 
then  was,  and  offered  to  hold  his  kingdom  under 
the  English  monarch  on  the  condition  of  his  as- 
sisting him  to  recover  it.  This  offer  fell  in  with 
the  previous  designs  of  Henry,  and  he  dismissed 
Dermot  with  letters  authorizing  his  British  sub- 
jects to  aid  him. 

Dermot  returned  to  England,  and  engaged 
Strongbow  of  South  Wales  to  invade  Ireland,  of- 
fering him  his  daughter  Eva  in  marriage.  Pro- 
ceeding secretly  to  Ireland  in  1169,  he  concealed 
himself  during  the  winter  in  the  monastery  of 
Ferns.  In  the  following  spring  he  was  joined 
by  FitzGerald  and  FitzStephen  from  Wales,  and 
a  series  of  contests  of  various  fortune  ensued, 
ending  in  the  subjugation  of  a  part  of  Ireland. 
Dermot  finally  leid  his  troops  into  the  territory  of 
O'Rourke,  but  was  twice  signally  defeated,  and 
died  at  Ferns  in  May,  1171. 

John  MacHale 

John  MacHale,  R.  C.  archbishop,  known  as 
"The  Lion  of  the  Fold  of  Judah,"  was  born  at 
Tobbernavine,  County  Mayo,  March  6,  1791,  the 
son  of  a  small  tenant  farmer.  The  only  language 
spoken  by  his  parents  and  the  people  of  the  dis- 
trict at  that  time  was  Gaelic,  but  by  the  wishes 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  31 

of  his  father  young  MacHale  was  instructed  in 
English  at  the  neighboring  hedge-school.  In 
1804  he  was  sent  to  the  school  of  Patrick  Stanton 
at  Castlebar,  where  he  received  the  rudiments  of 
a  classical  education.  In  September,  1807,  he  en- 
tered St.  Patrick's  College,  Maynooth,  as  an  ec- 
clesiastical student.  During  his  seven  years'  col- 
lege course  he  made  remarkable  progress  in 
scholarship,  and  July  25,  1814,  was  ordained 
priest  by  Bishop  Murray  (afterwards  arch- 
bishop), at  Dublin.  In  the  following  year  he  was 
appointed  lecturer,  and  in  1820  professor  of  dog- 
matic theology  in  the  College  of  Maynooth. 

In  1820  Father  MacHale  published  the  first 
of  a  series  of  powerful  letters  over  the  signature 
of  Hierophilos  in  defense  of  Catholic  dogma  and 
the  freedom  of  education,  which  won  for  him 
great  popularity.  From  1821  to  1824  he  wrote  a 
number  of  letters  on  the  state  of  Ireland  to  the 
English  people,  dealing  principally  with  Catholic 
Emancipation  and  education. 

In  1825  he  was  appointed  Bishop  of  Maro- 
nia,  and  coadjutor  to  the  Bishop  of  Killala,  with 
right  of  succession  to  the  See  of  St.  Muriedach. 
He  was  consecrated  June  5,  at  the  College  of 
Maynooth. 

His  learned  work,  "The  Evidences  and  Doc- 
trines of  the  Catholic  Church,"  was  published  in 
1827.  This  work  has  passed  through  two  edi- 
tions, was  translated  into  French  and  German, 
and  extended  his  reputation  abroad.  In  1829  Dr. 
MacHale  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Killala  Ca- 
thedral. In  1831  he  visited  Rome,  where  he 
delivered  a  number  of  sermons  that  were  after- 
wards translated  into  Latin.  After  making  a 
tour  of  the  continent  he  returned  home,  in  De- 
cember,  1832.     On  the  death  of  Dr.  Waldron, 


32 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 


May  20,  1834,  he  succeeded  to  the  bishopric  of 
Killala,  and  in  August  of  the  same  year  he  was 
made  Archbishop  of  Tuam. 

He  was  an  able  supporter  of  Daniel  O'Con- 
nell  and  his  pen  had  long  been  vigorously  em- 
ployed in  behalf  of  Catholic  Emancipation.  His 
forceful  and  impassioned  letters  in  the  newspa- 
pers, bearing  the  familiar  signature,  "John,  Arch- 
bishop of  Tuam,"  treated  of  all  the  burning  ques- 
tions of  the  time, — national  education,  the  tithes, 
poor  laws,  the  charitable  bequest  act,  Catho- 
lic Emancipation,  the  repeal  association,  tenant 
rights,  and  the  famine.  The  "Lion  of  the  Fold  of 
Judah,"  as  the  archbishop  was  called  by  his  friend 
O'Connell,  was  perhaps,  next  to  the  great  Liber- 
ator, the  most  popular  public  man  in  Ireland. 
During  the  famine  of  1847-48  he  appealed  every- 
where for  assistance,  and  was  the  principal  chan- 
nel through  which  the  Irish  in  all  parts  of  the 
world  transmitted  aid  to  their  perishing  coun- 
trymen. 

With  voice  and  pen  he  vigorously  opposed 
the  system  of  Queen's  Colleges,  as  he  had  pre- 
viously denounced  the  national  schools,  as  a  men- 
ace to  the  religious  faith  of  Catholics.  He  went 
to  Rome  in  1848  and  laid  the  matter  before  the 
Cardinals  of  the  Propaganda,  and  the  colleges 
were  later  condemned  by  the  Holy  See. 

Archbishop  MacHale  translated  many  works 
into  Irish,  among  which  are  many  of  "Moore's 
Melodies,"  1841  (new  edition,  1871)  ;  "The  Iliad" 
(eight  books,  1841-71) ;  "The  Way  of  the  Cross," 
1854;  five  books  of  Moses,  or  the  Pentateuch, 
1861 ;  and  prepared  a  catechism  and  a  book  of 
prayers,  1866. 

The  same  spirit  that  influenced  him  to  aid 
O'Connell  urged  him  to  assist  by  his  sanction 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  33 

and  encouragement  the  cause  of  Home  Rule  ad- 
vocated first  by  Isaac  Butt.  "Come  what  may," 
he  said,  "Ireland  must  one  day  be  free  and  self- 
governed."  He  died  at  Tuam,  November  7,  1881, 
and  v^as  interred  in  the  cathedral  there.  Arch- 
bishop MacHale  v^as  a  great  church  builder,  and 
he  labored  in  the  humblest  priestly  functions  as 
actively  as  the  youngest  priest  almost  to  the  close 
of  his  long  life.  No  Catholic  prelate  filled  a  larger 
place  in  Irish  public  affairs,  and  none  approached 
him  in  popularity.  By  his  religious  zeal  and  na- 
tional spirit  his  name  will  always  be  held  in  great 
veneration  by  the  Irish  people. 

Thomas  William  Croke 

Thomas  William  Croke,  R.  C.  archbishop, 
was  born  near  Mallow,  County  Cork,  May  19, 
1824.  His  early  education  was  received  at  home 
and  at  the  Charleville  Endowed  School,  which  he 
left  at  the  age  of  fourteen.  He  then  went  to 
Paris,  entered  the  Irish  College,  and  after  pass- 
ing through  the  usual  course  of  philosophy  and 
theology,  was  appointed  professor  in  a  college  in 
Belgium.  In  November,  1845,  he  went  to  Rome 
and  entered  the  Irish  College,  where  he  remained 
three  years,  studying  theology  under  the  Jesuit 
Fathers  Perrone  and  Passaglia. 

In  1846  he  won  the  gold  and  silver  medals, 
the  following  year  took  the  degree  of  doctor  of  di- 
vinity, and  was  ordained  priest.  Subsequently  re- 
turning to  Ireland,  he  entered  Carlow  College,  as 
professor  of  rhetoric,  in  1848.  In  1849  he  taught 
theology  in  the  Irish  College  at  Paris.  Again 
returning  to  his  native  country,  he  was  engaged 
in  missionary  work  in  the  diocese  of  Cloyne, 
County  Cork,  until  1858,  when  he  was  appointed 


34  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

president  of  St.  Colman's  College,  Fermoy.  This 
important  position  Father  Croke  filled  for  seven 
years  with  honor  to  himself  and  benefit  to  the 
Church.  In  1865  he  was  appointed  to  the  pas- 
toral charge  of  Doneraile  and  chancellor  of  the 
diocese  of  Cloyne. 

In  1870  he  accepted  the  bishopric  of  Auck- 
land, New  Zealand,  which  he  held  until  1874. 
While  in  New  Zealand  he  labored  zealously  in 
building  churches,  founding  missions,  and  de- 
voted himself  especially  in  christianizing  the  na- 
tive Maoris,  with  whom  he  became  exceedingly 
popular.  In  1875  he  was  advanced  to  the  Archi- 
episcopal  See  of  Cashel  and  returned  to  Ireland, 
where  he  played  an  important  part  in  the  eccle- 
siastical and  political  affairs  of  his  country.  The 
indefatigable  efforts  of  the  archbishop  to  better 
the  condition  of  the  tenant  farmers  and  in  pro- 
moting the  Irish  Land  League  and  Nationalist 
movements  greatly  endeared  him  to  the  hearts  of 
his  countrymen.  He  died  at  Thurles,  July  22, 
1902.  Archbishop  Croke  was  a  man  of  large  stat- 
ure and  powerful  physique,  and  in  his  younger 
days  was  a  famous  athlete. 

Daniel  Murray 

Daniel  Murray,  R.  C.  archbishop,  was  born 
near  Arklow,  County  Wicklow,  April  18,  1768. 
After  an  academical  training  at  the  University 
of  Salamanca,  in  Spain,  he  was  ordained  priest, 
and  returned  to  Ireland  in  1790.  He  was  pastor 
at  Arklow  until  1798;  and  in  1809,  having  been 
appointed  coadjutor  to  Dr.  Troy,  Archbishop  of 
Dublin,  he  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Hierapolis. 
At  the  instance  of  his  brother  prelates  he  paid 
a  visit  to  France  in  the  following  year,  and  sue- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  35 

ceeded  in  obtaining-  from  the  French  government 
the  restoration  of  property  belonging  to  the  Irish 
College  in  Paris. 

He  rendered  conspicuous  service,  between 
1810  and  1816,  by  his  determined  opposition  to 
the  proposed  royal  veto  on  the  appointment  of 
Catholic  Bishops  in  Ireland.  He  was  delegated 
to  accompany  Dr.  Milner  to  Rome,  to  protest 
against  all  compromise  on  this  subject;  they  suc- 
ceeded in  carrying  their  point,  and  the  veto  was 
eventuallv  condemned  by  the  Holy  See  in  1814. 

On  the  death  of  Dr.  Troy,  May  11,  1823,  his 
mitre  devolved  upon  Dr.  Murray,  who  received 
the  pallium  from  Rome  October  19,  1824.  The 
archbishop  was  one  of  the  foremost  in  the  strug- 
gle for  Catholic  Emancipation,  and  in  other  polit- 
ical movements  for  national  rights.  He  was  ap- 
pointed a  commissioner  by  the  government  under 
the  Bequests  Act  of  1844,  and  a  commissioner  of 
education  in  1851.  He  even  consented  to  act 
as  a  visitor  of  the  Queen's  Colleges,  but  when  the 
proceedings  of  the  synod  of  Thurles,  condemning 
the  colleges,  were  ratified  by  the  Sovereign  Pon- 
tiff, in  1852,  Dr.  Murray  withdrew  from  all  con- 
nection with  those  institutions.  He  died  at  Dub- 
lin, February  26,  1852.  Dr.  Murray  was  a  ripe 
scholar  and  polished  gentleman.  He  published 
some  works  on  political  and  polemical  subjects, 
and  his  **Sermons"  were  published  at  Dublin  in 
two  volumes  in  1859. 

William  Quarter 

William  Quarter,  the  first  Bishop  of  Chi- 
cago, was  born  in  Kings  County,  Ireland,  Janu- 
ary 21,  1806,  son  of  Michael  and  Anne  Bennet 
Quarter.    He  studied  in  the  schools  of  Tullamore 


36  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

preparatory  to  entering  the  College  of  Maynooth. 
From  a  priest  who  had  just  returned  to  Ireland, 
young  Quarter  learned  the  condition  of  Catho- 
lic missions  in  America,  and  shortly  after  left 
his  native  land.  He  landed  at  Quebec  in  1822, 
and,  being  rejected  by  the  bishop  there  and  at 
Montreal  as  an  ecclesiastical  student,  on  account 
of  his  youth,  he  went  to  Emmettsburg,  Md.,  and 
entered  Mount  St.  Mary's  College  as  a  divinity 
student,  September  8,  1822.  There,  in  the  follow- 
ing year,  though  only  sixteen  years  old,  he  was 
chosen  professor  of  Latin  and  Greek. 

September  19,  1829,  on  the  completion  of 
his  theological  studies,  he  was  ordained  priest 
and  was  sent  to  New  York  City,  where,  in  1832, 
during  an  epidemic  of  cholera.  Father  Quarter 
devoted  himself  assiduously  to  aiding  the  suffer- 
ers. In  1833  he  was  appointed  pastor  of  St. 
Mary's  Church,  New  York  City,  where  he  re- 
mained until  appointed  bishop  of  the  newly  con- 
stituted See  of  Chicago.  He  was  consecrated 
March  10,  1844,  by  Archbishop  Hughes,  and  ar- 
rived in  Chicago  May  5  of  that  year. 

He  found  but  one  Catholic  Church  in  the 
city,  and  conditions  throughout  the  new  diocese 
unsettled.  Bishop  Quarter,  however,  entered 
upon  his  new  duties  with  such  wisdom  and  zeal 
that  the  new  Cathedral  of  St.  Mary's  was  com- 
pleted in  October,  1845,  the  University  of  St. 
Mary's  of  the  Lake  was  opened  July  4,  1846,  and 
the  Sisters  of  Mercy  introduced  in  the  diocese  the 
following  September.  At  the  time  of  his  death 
sixty-eight  churches  had  been  erected  in  the  dio- 
cese, with  fifty-three  priests,  and  the  educational 
institutions  brought  to  a  high  standard.  His 
administration  marked  an  era  of  solidity  and  har- 
mony throughout  the  diocese.    He  died  at  Chi- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  37 

cago,  111.,  April  10,  1848.    His  remains  were  in- 
terred in  old  St.  Mary's,  the  then  procathedral. 

Anthony  O'Regan 

Anthony  O'Regan,  third  Bishop  of  Chicago, 
was  born  in  County  Mayo,  in  1809.  He  received 
his  ecclesiastical  training  at  the  College  of  May- 
nooth,  where  he  was  ordained  priest,  and  ap- 
pointed professor  in  the  College  of  St.  Jarlath's 
at  Tuam.  After  serving  in  this  capacity  for  a 
number  of  years,  he  was  appointed  president  of 
the  latter  institution,  and  won  high  honors  as 
a  theologian  and  educator.  About  1849,  having 
received  an  invitation  from  Archbishop  Kenrick 
of  St.  Louis,  he  came  to  America  and  was  placed 
in  charge  of  the  theological  seminary  at  Caron- 
delet.  Mo.  In  1854  he  was  nominated  Bishop  of 
Chicago,  and  in  July  of  that  year  was  conse- 
crated at  the  St.  Louis  Cathedral  by  Archbishop 
Kenrick. 

The  diocese  of  Chicago  was  not  in  a  vigor- 
ous condition,  there  being  few  priests  and  eccle- 
siastical structures  and  little  other  diocesan  prop- 
erty. His  first  acts  were  to  build  a  new  episcopal 
residence  and  to  purchase  the  land  for  Calvary 
cemetery.  Bishop  O'Regan  also  brought  the 
Jesuit  and  Redemptorist  Fathers  into  the  diocese. 
His  administration,  however,  did  not  long  con- 
tinue successful.  He  had  numerous  difficulties 
with  the  clergy,  and  in  1856  went  to  Rome  to 
present  his  resignation  to  the  Pope,  which,  after 
considerable  difficulty,  was  accepted.  He  was 
made  Titular  Bishop  of  Dora  in  1858,  and  retired 
to  St.  Michael's  Grove,  near  London,  Eng- 
land, where  he  died  November  13,  1866.  He  be- 
queathed his  property  toward  education  in  Ire- 


38  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

land  and  to  the  erection  of  a  Catholic  hospital  in 
Chicago;  also  to  the  education  of  ecclesiastical 
students  in  the  dioceses  of  Alton  and  Chicago. 

James  Duggan 

BY  WILLIAM  J.  ONAHAN 

James  Duggan,  fourth  Bishop  of  Chicago,  J 

was  born  May  22,  1825,  in  Maynooth,  County  ^ 

Kildare,  where  he  received  a  good  classical  and 
theological  education.  As  soon  as  he  was  out  of 
college  he  emigrated  to  the  United  States,  arriv- 
ing in  St.  Louis  in  1846.  He  there  completed  his 
studies  under  the  Lazarist  Fathers  at  Carondelet, 
and  was  shortly  after  ordained  priest.  Assigned 
to  parochial  duty  first  as  assistant,  he  was  subse- 
quently appointed  pastor  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception, where  his  capacity  and  zeal  found  full 
scope,  and  was  quickly  recognized  by  Archbishop 
Kenrick,  who  showed  his  appreciation  by  ap- 
pointing Father  Duggan  his  vicar-general. 

During  the  interregnum  in  Chicago  in  1853, 
caused  by  the  resignation  of  Bishop  Van  de 
Velde,  Father  Duggan  came  to  Chicago  to  fill 
the  position  of  administrator  of  the  diocese,  in 
the  duties  of  w^hich  he  acquitted  himself  with 
signal  tact  and  capacity.  Upon  the  removal  of 
Bishop  O'Regan,  who  had  succeeded  Bishop  Van 
de  Velde,  Father  Duggan  was  nominated  and 
appointed  in  1859  to  the  vacant  see.  The  new 
bishop  had  won  general  favor  in  St.  Louis  by 
his  zeal,  his  acknowledged  ability,  and  by  his 
winning  and  gracious  manners. 

He  was  known  to  be  an  especial  favorite  of 
Archbishop  Kenrick,  who,  it  was  said,  sought  to 
retain  him  in  St.  Louis  as  coadjutor. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  39 

Bishop  Duggan  was  warmly  welcomed  in 
Chicago  by  all  classes — Protestants  vying  with 
Catholics  in  cordiality.  The  "Bishop's  Palace," 
as  it  was  then  styled,  was  a  stately  marble 
front  mansion,  which  had  been  built  by  Bishop 
O'Regan  on  the  corner  of  Michigan  avenue  and 
Madison  street — now  occupied  by  the  building  of 
Montgomery  Ward  &  Co.  Bishop  Duggan's 
house  soon  became  the  favorite  center  of  culture 
for  the  elite  of  the  city.  The  bishop's  refined 
taste  in  literature  and  art  made  him  an  authority 
amongst  the  increasing  circle  of  the  literary  and 
art  loving  people  of  the  city.  Bishop  Duggan 
was  an  early  and  generous  patron  of  George  P. 
Healy,  the  well-known  portrait  painter,  and 
many  of  the  artist's  finest  pictures  and  studies 
were  to  be  seen  adorning  the  bishop's  elegant 
library  and  parlors.  When  the  civil  war  broke 
out.  Bishop  Duggan  stood  actively  and  conspicu- 
ously for  the  Union  cause,  and  in  public  ad- 
dresses and  writings  made  his  power  and  influ- 
ence widely  felt. 

He  cordially  approved  of  the  organization 
of  the  Chicago  "Irish  Brigade,"  commanded  by 
the  heroic  and  lamented  Colonel  Mulligan,  and 
assigned  to  it  as  chaplain  his  own  secretary.  Rev. 
Dr.  Butler, 

He  likewise  aided  the  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Dunne, 
V.  G.,  in  the  formation  of  the  "Irish  Legion,'' 
the  90th  Illinois,  another  Chicago  Catholic  regi- 
ment, to  which  Father  Kelly,  the  first  pastor  of 
St.  James  Church,  was  assigned  as  chaplain. 

In  the  management  of  diocesan  and  Church 
affairs  he  was  for  many  years  most  successful 
and  fortunate.  Churches  were  multiplied,  the 
new  Cathedral  of  the  Holy  Name  pushed  for- 
ward towards  completion,  religious  orders  of 


40  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

men,  and  teaching  communities  of  Sisters  intro- 
duced throughout  the  diocese.  The  bishop's  hos- 
tile attitude  towards  the  "Fenian  Brotherhood" 
caused  some  local  friction  for  a  time,  and,  to- 
wards the  end  of  his  administration,  there  was 
considerable  dissatisfaction  manifested  by  sev- 
eral of  the  best  known  and  most  highly  respected 
Chicago  priests  against  certain  of  Bishop  Dug- 
gan's  decisions  and  appointments:  protests  and 
remonstrances  were  sent  to  Rome  in  regard  to 
these  matters.  The  condition  of  the  bishop,  how- 
ever, shortly  made  things  clear. 

He  had  for  some  time  shown  symptoms  of 
mental  as  well  as  physical  disorder,  which  soon 
necessitated  his  removal  to  an  institution  in  St. 
Louis,  and  retirement  from  episcopal  duties. 
This  in  1869.  In  this  sad  state  of  almost  con- 
stant mental  aberration  Bishop  Duggan  con- 
tinued until  death  came  to  his  relief,  March  27, 
1899.  His  remains  were  brought  to  Chicago  and 
the  solemn  funeral  rites  held  in  the  Cathedral 
of  the  Holy  Name.  The  newly  appointed  Auxil- 
iary Bishop  McGavick  delivered  the  sermon  on 
the  occasion.  Those  who  remember  Bishop  Dug- 
gan speak  of  him  as  a  man  of  exceptionally  at- 
tractive manners,  a  scholar  of  rare  ability  and 
culture,  especially  well  equipped  in  classical 
knowledge  and  in  general  literature.  He  pos- 
sessed one  of  the  choicest  private  libraries  in  the 
city.  Bishop  Duggan  was  a  pleasing  preacher  and 
lecturer,  and,  until  the  closing  year  of  his  admin- 
istration, he  was  held  in  the  most  affectionate 
regard  by  priests  and  people. 

The  Church  in  Chicago  made  notable  prog- 
ress in  his  time.  Bishop  Duggan's  local  clergy 
and  assistants  included  several  of  the  ablest 
priests  known  in  diocesan  history — Very  Rev. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  41 

Denis  Dunne,  V.  G.,  Rev.  Dr.  McMullen,  later 
Administrator  of  Chicago,  and  subsequently 
Bishop  of  Davenport;  Rev.  Joseph  P.  Roles, 
long  time  pastor  of  St.  Mary's;  Rev.  Dr.  Butler, 
nominated  Bishop  of  Concordia,  who  died  in 
Rome  on  the  eve  of  the  day  appointed  for  his 
consecration;  Rev.  Father  P.  W.  Riordan,  now 
Archbishop  of  San  Francisco,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Mc- 
Govern,  the  present  pastor  of  Lockport,  who  was 
the  first  priest  ordained  in  Rome  for  the  diocese 
of  Chicago. 

Patrick  Augustine  Feehan 

Patrick  Augustine  Feehan,  first  Archbishop 
of  Chicago,  was  born  in  Killenaule,  County  Tip- 
perary,  August  29,  1829.  His  parents  were  peo- 
ple of  culture,  and  descended  from  families  noted 
for  their  scholarly  attainments.  At  the  age  of 
sixteen,  young  Patrick  was  sent  to  the  Ecclesias- 
tical Seminary  at  Castleknock,  where  he  remained 
two  years.  In  1847  he  entered  the  College  of  May- 
nooth,  and  during  the  five  years  as  a  student 
there  made  unusual  progress  in  the  study  of  phi- 
losophy and  theology.  Plans  were  being  ar- 
ranged for  him  to  enter  the  Dunboyne  establish- 
ment, when,  by  invitation  from  Archbishop  Ken- 
rick  of  St.  Louis,  he  decided  to  select  America 
as  the  scene  of  his  future  activity. 

He  came  to  the  United  States  soon  after 
and  was  ordained  priest  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  No- 
vember 1,  1852,  and  for  six  months  taught  in  the 
diocesan  seminary.  In  July,  1853,  Father  Feehan 
was  appointed  assistant  pastor  at  St.  John's 
Church,  and  in  1854  succeeded  the  Rev.  Anthony 
O'Regan  as  president  of  the  theological  seminary 
at  Carondelet,  where  he  remained  three  years. 


42  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

In  1857  he  was  made  pastor  of  St.  Michael's 
Church,  St.  Louis,  and  in  the  following  year 
was  transferred  to  the  Church  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception  in  the  same  city. 

The  See  of  Nashville  became  vacant  in  1864, 
by  the  resignation  of  Bishop  Whelan,  and  Father 
Feehan  was  nominated  for  the  vacancy.  He  at 
first  declined,  owing  to  his  mother's  poor  health. 
The  next  year  his  mother  died;  the  office  was 
again  offered  to  him;  he  accepted,  and  was  con- 
secrated November  1,  1865.  The  diocese  of  Nash- 
ville presented  at  the  time  numerous  difficulties 
for  the  young  bishop.  The  civil  war  had  just 
ended,  and  the  church  was  left  in  the  same  con- 
dition of  debt  and  confusion  as  the  city.  While 
Bishop  Feehan  was  struggling  to  build  up  his 
diocese,  with  the  aid  of  the  new  priests  he  had 
gathered  about  him,  the  city  of  Nashville  was 
visited  by  an  epidemic  of  cholera  and  yellow 
fever.  On  three  different  occasions  the  plague 
visited  the  diocese,  and  Bishop  Feehan  labored 
constantly  amid  scenes  of  trouble  and  misery. 
He  saw  many  of  his  priests  fall  victims  to  the 
pestilence,  but  he  fearlessly  carried  on  his  work 
in  the  fever-stricken  city  until  the  plague  had 
been  stamped  out. 

In  1866  he  took  part  in  the  second  plenary 
council  of  Baltimore  and  in  the  Ecumenical 
council  of  the  Vatican.  In  1880,  shortly  after 
the  death  of  the  Right  Rev.  Thomas  Foley,  D.  D., 
Chicago  was  created  an  archiepiscopal  see,  and 
Bishop  Feehan  was  appointed  the  first  arch- 
bishop. He  was  given  a  notable  reception  on 
his  arrival  in  Chicago,  and,  November  28,  1880, 
the  installation  services  were  held  at  the  Cathe- 
dral of  the  Holy  Name.  The  archdiocese  com- 
prised eighteen  counties  in  the  northern  part  of 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  43 

Illinois,  in  which  there  were  194  churches,  at- 
tended by  204  priests. 

Archbishop  Feehan  entered  upon  his  labors 
in  Chicago  when  the  immigration  of  Catholics 
from  many  lands  to  the  archdiocese  was  at  its 
height,  but  by  establishing  churches  and  schools, 
and  providing  for  the  religious  needs  of  the  dif- 
ferent nationalities,  he  preserved  unity  and  har- 
mony. The  establishment  of  schools,  even  be- 
fore the  erection  of  churches,  was  a  policy  on 
which  the  archbishop  insisted.  In  1883  he  was 
invited  to  Rome,  with  other  archbishops,  to  for- 
mulate the  schemata  of  the  third  plenary  council 
of  Baltimore.  In  1899  the  Rev.  A.  J.  McGavick 
was  consecrated  auxiliary  bishop,  and  July  25, 
1901,  the  Rev.  Peter  J.  Muldoon  was  consecrated 
Titular  Bishop  of  Tamassus. 

During  his  administration  Archbishop  Fee- 
han created  numerous  new  parishes  in  Chicago, 
founded  homes  for  the  aged,  hospitals,  orphan 
asylums,  and  established  the  Chicago  Industrial 
School  for  Girls  and  the  great  St.  Mary's  Train- 
ing School  for  Boys  at  Feehanville.  He  intro- 
duced into  the  archdiocese  very  many  religious 
orders  of  nuns  devoted  to  teaching,  all  of  whom 
were  placed  in  charge  of  academies  and  parochial 
schools.  He  regularly  visited  all  parts  of  the 
archdiocese,  and  at  the  close  of  two  decades  had 
confirmed  about  200,000,  ordained  more  than  250 
priests,  laid  the  corner-stones  of  and  dedicated 
more  than  150  churches. 

An  important  event  in  the  administration  of 
Archbishop  Feehan,  and  in  the  history  of  the 
Church  in  America,  was  the  Catholic  educational 
exhibit  at  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  in 
1893,  which  attracted  wide  attention  and  was 
greatly  admired.     He  died  at  Chicago,  after  a 


44  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

short  illness,  July  12,  1902,  and  was  succeeded  by 
the  Most  Rev.  Edward  Quigley.  Archbishop 
Feehan  was  noted  for  his  great  piety  and  for  his 
kindly  disposition.  He  was  an  authority  on  mat- 
ters of  church  discipline  and  on  all  questions  of 
theology.  At  the  time  of  his  death  there  were 
298  churches  in  the  archdiocese  (150  in  Chicago) 
and  538  priests.  In  no  diocese  were  the  affairs 
of  the  Church,  it  may  be  said,  better  managed  or 
more  extensively  developed  than  in  Chicago  dur- 
ing the  administration  of  Archbishop  Feehan. 

Francis  Patrick  Kenrick 

Francis  Patrick  Kenrick,  R.  C.  archbishop, 
was  born  in  Dublin,  December  3,  1797.  At  the 
age  of  eighteen,  after  receiving  a  classical  edu- 
cation at  home,  he  went  to  Rome  and  pursued 
his  theological  studies  at  the  College  of  the  Prop- 
aganda. Here  young  Kenrick  applied  himself 
diligently  to  the  study  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures 
and  the  writings  of  the  early  Fathers.  In  1821 
he  was  ordained  priest  and  was  selected  to  take 
charge  of  the  new  theological  seminary  at  Bards- 
town,  Ky.,  founded  by  Bishop  Flaget.  Dur- 
ing his  residence  at  Bardstown  he  attended  the 
bishop  in  his  visitations  to  the  widely  scattered 
missions  of  the  diocese,  aiding  greatly  by  his 
ability  and  energy.  He  also  succeeded  in  estab- 
lishing the  diocesan  seminary  upon  a  firm  basis. 

In  1828  he  entered  the  field  of  theological 
controversy,  in  defense  of  his  religion,  and  in 
which  he  was  an  able  champion  throughout  life. 
In  1829  he  was  theologian  to  Bishop  Flaget  at 
the  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  and  was  ap- 
pointed secretary  to  the  assembly.  At  this  coun- 
cil he  was  appointed  coadjutor  to  the  Bishop  of 
Philadelphia,  the  diocese  of  which  was,  at  the 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  45 

time,  under  the  domination  of  the  trustee  sys- 
tem. He  was  consecrated  bishop  June  6,  1830, 
at  Bardstown,  Ky.,  by  Bishop  Flaget.  The 
consecration  sermon  was  deHvered  by  Bishop 
England. 

The  trustees  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  Phila- 
delphia (the  bishop's  cathedral),  refused  to  rec- 
ognize him  in  the  exercise  of  his  pastoral  author- 
ity, but  he  finally  overcame  all  opposition,  and 
one  of  his  first  acts  was  to  establish  an  order 
that  all  diocesan  property  was  to  be  vested  in 
the  bishop.  To  Bishop  Kenrick  is  due  much  of 
the  credit  of  rescuing  the  Church  in  the  United 
States  from  trustee  dictatorship.  There  being 
no  college  for  the  education  of  priests  in  his 
diocese,  which  left  many  congregations  in  the 
widely  scattered  districts  without  regular  pas- 
tors, he  founded  the  Seminary  of  St.  Charles 
Borromeo  at  Philadelphia  about  1833.  In  1838 
he  obtained  a  charter  for  the  college  under  the 
name  of  the  Philadelphia  Theological  Seminary 
of  St.  Charles  Borromeo. 

On  the  death  of  Bishop  Conwell,  in  1842,  he 
succeeded  to  the  bishopric  of  Philadelphia.  That 
same  year  he  introduced  the  order  of  St.  Augus- 
tine into  the  diocese  and  assisted  them  in  found- 
ing the  College  of  St.  Thomas  at  Villanova.  ^In 
1844,  during  the  anti-Catholic  riots  in  Philadel- 
phia, he  was  compelled  to  suspend  temporarily 
all  public  worship.  During  these  outbreaks  of 
vandalism,  in  which  priests  were  often  compelled 
to  conceal  their  clerical  dress,  much  church  prop- 
erty was  destroyed  and  several  people  killed.  He 
continually  preached  against  acts  of  retaliation 
by  his  own  people,  and  took  immediate  steps  to 
restore  the  churches  and  institutions  destroyed 
bv  the  mob. 


46  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

In  August,  1851,  shortly  after  the  death  of 
the  Most  Rev.  Samuel  Eccleston,  he  was  made 
Archbishop  of  Baltimore.  He  was  also  appointed 
Apostolic  Delegate  by  the  Pope  to  preside  over 
the  first  National  Council  of  all  the  archbishops 
and  bishops  in  the  United  States,  convened  at 
Baltimore  in  May,  1852.  By  a  decree  signed  by 
Pope  Pius  IX.,  July  25,  1858,  the  primacy  of  the 
United  States  was  conferred  upon  him  and  his 
successors, — Baltimore  being  the  oldest  Catholic 
See  in  this  country.  He  rearranged  the  parishes 
of  Baltimore;  with  his  approval,  the  Jesuits  built 
St.  Ignatius  Church  in  1853,  and  opened  Loyola 
College  about  1855.  In  1854  he  went  to  Rome 
and  took  part  in  the  deliberations  that  led  to 
the  definition  of  the  dogma  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception. 

Besides  most  of  the  modern  languages,  Arch- 
bishop Kenrick  had  a  rare  knowledge  of  Hebrew, 
Latin  and  Greek.  One  of  the  most  learned  theo- 
logians and  vigorous  writers  in  America,  his  pen 
was  constantly  employed  in  defense  of  his  faith; 
and  he  was  indefatigable  in  extending  the  influ- 
ence and  powers  of  the  Church. 

While  at  Bardstown,  Ky.,  he  published  "Let- 
ters from  Omicron  to  Omega,"  1828,  embodying 
a  defense  of  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  Eucha- 
rist, which  had  been  attacked  by  Rev.  Dr.  Black- 
burn, President  of  Danville  College,  Ky.,  who 
wrote  under  the  signature  of  "Omega."  He  pub- 
lished a  series  of  letters,  now  in  book  form,  and 
regarded  as  of  the  highest  authority,  "On  the 
Primacy  of  the  Holy  See  and  the  Authority  of 
General  Councils,"  1837  (in  reply  to  Bishop  Hop- 
kins of  Vermont),  subsequently  enlarged  and  re- 
printed under  the  title  of  "The  Primacy  of  the 
Apostolic  See  Vindicated,"   and  another  series 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  47 

of  letters,  entitled  "Vindication  of  the  Catholic 
Church."    Of  the  same  class  of  publication  were 
his  "Catholic  Doctrine  of  Justification  Explained 
and  Vindicated,"   1841,  and  "Treatise  on  Bap- 
tism,"  1843.     His  Latin  treatises  on  dogmatic 
theology,  "Theologia  Dogmatica"  (four  volumes, 
1839-40,  new  edition  three  volumes,  1857),  and 
moral  theology,  "Theologia  Moralis"  (three  vol- 
umes, 1841-43),  form  a  complete  course  of  divin- 
ity, and  are  extensively  used  as  text-books  in  the 
Catholic  Seminaries   of  the  United  States.    Dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  was  engaged 
upon  a  revised  English  translation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, which  is  considered  to  be  the  greatest  of 
his  literary  efforts.     At  the  time  of  his  death 
the  whole  of  his  version  of  the  New  Testament 
and  the  greater  part  of  the  Old  Testament  had 
been  published  with  copious  notes.     He  died  at 
Baltimore,  Md.,  July  6,  1863. 

Peter  Richard  Kenrick 

Peter  Richard  Kenrick,  R.  C.  archbishop, 
brother  of  Francis  Patrick,  was  born  in  Chan 
eery  Lane,  Dublin,  August  17,  1806.  He  matricu- 
lated at  the  College  of  Maynooth  in  1827,  and 
was  ordained  priest  there  by  Archbishop  Murray 
of  Dublin,  March  6,  1832.  After  serving  in  the 
cathedral  parish  of  Dublin  and  at  Rathmines  for 
a  short  tim.e,  he  came  to  the  United  States.  In 
1835  he  was  made  rector  of  the  cathedral  in  Phil- 
adelphia by  his  brother,  who  was  coadjutor 
bishop  of  the  diocese.  Subsequently  he  was 
made  president  of  the  Seminary  of  St.  Charles 
Borromeo  and  vicar-general.  He  also  edited  the 
Catholic  Herald,  the  diocesan  paper. 

In  1841  he  was  appointed  Bishop  of  Drasa 
and  coadjutor  to  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis.     He 


48  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Rosatti  at  Philadel- 
phia, November  30,  1841.  On  the  death  of  the 
latter,  in  September,  1843,  he  succeeded  him  to 
the  See  of  St.  Louis,  which  then  embraced  the 
states  of  Arkansas,  Missouri,  and  part  of  Illinois. 
He  introduced  many  educational  and  charitable 
orders  into  the  diocese,  and  within  a  few  years 
had  completed  a  number  of  new  churches  and 
institutions,  and  established  a  diocesan  paper,  the 
Catholic  Cabinet. 

October  8,  1847,  St.  Louis  was  created  an 
archiepiscopal  see  and  Dr.  Kenrick  became  its 
first  archbishop.  In  September  of  the  following 
year  he  received  the  pallium  at  the  hands  of  his 
brother  in  St.  John's  Cathedral,  Philadelphia.  He 
visited  Rome  in  1867  and  again  in  1869  to 
attend  the  Vatican  Council.  Archbishop  Ken- 
rick's  golden  jubilee  was  celebrated  in  1891  with 
imposing  ceremonies,  the  first  in  the  history  of 
the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States.  Owing 
to  his  declining  health,  Bishop  Kain  of  Wheel- 
ing, W.  Va.,  was  made  administrator  of  the  dio- 
cese in  1893  and  created  coadjutor  archbishop 
in  1895.  Archbishop  Kenrick  died  at  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  March  4,  1896.  During  his  administration 
he  consecrated  many  new  bishops  to  the  sees 
that  were  being  continually  created  o.ut  of  the 
original  diocese  of  St.  Louis.  Among  his  works 
are:  ''Anglican  Ordinations"  and  "The  Holy 
House  of  Loretto."  He  ranked  among  the  best 
as  a  pulpit  orator;  his  command  of  language 
was  extraordinary. 

John  Hennessy 

John  Hennessy,  R.  C.  archbishop  of  Du- 
buque,   Iowa,   was   born    in    County    Limerick, 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  49 

August  20,  1825.  In  1847  he  came  to  the  United 
States  and  entered  Carondelet  Seminary,  near 
St.  Louis,  Mo.,  where  he  began  the  study  of 
theology,  and  was  ordained  priest  November  1, 
1850.  His  first  mission  was  at  New  Madrid, 
Mo.,  embracing  6,000  miles  of  territory,  with  no 
railroad  facilities.  In  1854  he  became  professor 
of  dogmatic  theology  at  Carondelet  Seminary 
and,  in  1857,  president  of  that  institution.  The 
next  year  he  went  to  Rome  as  representative  of 
Archbishop  Kenrick.  In  1860  he  was  made  pas- 
tor at  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  where  he  remained  until 
appointed  Bishop  of  Dubuque,  Iowa.  He  was 
consecrated  by  Archbishop  Kenrick,  September 
30,  1866;  and  September  17,  1893,  he  was  made 
the  first  Archbishop  of  Dubuque.  Archbishop 
Hennessy  was  an  eminent  orator,  a  profound  the- 
ologian, and  was  always  ardent  in  the  cause  of 
religious  education.  Wendell  Phillips  declared 
that  Archbishop  Hennessy's  oration  on  Daniel 
O'Connell  was  a  masterpiece  of  eloquence,  and 
the  finest  of  all  those  delivered  on  the  occasion  of 
O'Connell's  centenary.  He  founded  St.  Joseph's 
College  and  Theological  Seminary  at  Dubuque 
in  1873.  During  his  administration  the  Catholic 
Church  in  Iowa  increased  in  membership  from  a 
few  thousand  to  250,000.  He  died  at  Dubuque, 
Iowa,  March  4,  1900. 

John  Baptist  Purcell 

John  Baptist  Purcell,  R.  C.  archbishop,  was 
born  in  Mallow,  County  Cork,  February  26,  1800. 
He  was  the  son  of  Edmund  and  Johanna  Purcell. 
Young  Purcell  emigrated  to  Baltimore,  Md.,  in 
1818,  where  he  was  employed  as  a  teacher  in 
Asbury  College  and  as  a  tutor  in  a  private  family 


50  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

in  Queen  Anne  County.  From  1820  until  1823 
he  studied  philosophy  and  theology  in  Mount  St. 
Mary's  College  at  Emmettsburg,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  he  received  minor  orders,  and  in  1824 
was  sent  to  France  to  complete  his  ecclesiastical 
studies  at  the  Seminary  of  Issy,  and  at  St.  Sul- 
pice  in  Paris. 

He  was  ordained  priest  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Notre  Dame,  May  21,  1826,  after  which  he  visited 
his  parents  in  Ireland.  Returning  to  America, 
he  was  appointed  professor  of  moral  philosophy 
in  St.  Mary's  College,  Baltimore,  and  in  1828 
was  made  its  president.  Father  Purcell  rendered 
valuable  service  to  that  institution.  On  the  death 
of  Bishop  Fenwick  he  was  nominated  Bishop 
of  Cincinnati  and  consecrated  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Baltimore,  October  13,  1833.  His  diocese  em- 
braced the  states  of  Ohio  and  Michigan,  then  for 
the  most  part  an  unsettled  wilderness,  containing 
only  sixteen  churches  (one  at  Cincinnati)  and  a 
Catholic  population  considerably  under  10,000. 
He  immediately  began  to  establish  academies 
and  parish  schools.  He  built  a  convent  for  the 
Ursulines,  organized  a  German  congregation  at 
Cincinnati,  and  by  his  vigorous  labors  the  dio- 
cese was  transformed  within  a  few  years  from 
its  former  frontier  condition  into  one  of  great 
importance,  containing  seventy-five  churches  and 
a  Catholic  population  of  about  75,000  in  1846. 

In  1833  the  diocese  of  Detroit  was  formed, 
which  embraced  the  state  of  Michigan,  and  in 
1847  the  diocese  of  Cleveland  was  created.  In 
1850  he  was  made  an  archbishop  with  four  suf- 
fragan bishops  to  the  metropolitan  See  of  Cincin- 
nati. He  received  the  pallium  from  the  hands  of 
Pius  IX.,  at  Rome,  in  1851.  Archbishop  Purcell 
presided  over  his  first  provincial  council  in  1855 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  51 

and  the  second  in  1858.  He  devoted  much  of  his 
time  to  establishing  rehgious  orders  of  education 
and  charity  in  his  archdiocese,  and  to  the  erec- 
tion of  institutions  and  academies  for  their  use. 
He  founded  Mount  St.  Mary's  of  the  West  for 
the  education  of  priests,  which  subsequently  be- 
came one  of  the  leading  theological  seminaries 
of  the  country,  established  the  Catholic  Tele- 
graph, and  built  St.  Peter's  Cathedral  at  Cin- 
cinnati. Archbishop  Purcell  visited  Europe  many 
times  during  his  episcopate  and  attended  the 
Vatican  Council  in  1869.  He  was  on  intimate 
terms  with  many  public  men,  among  whom  were 
Chief  Justice  Chase,  Thomas  Ewing  and  Gen- 
eral Sherman.  He  officiated  at  the  wedding  cere- 
mony for  the  latter's  daughter  and  Thomas  W. 
Fitch,  in  the  Jesuit  Church  at  Washington,  D.  C, 
in  1874.  In  1876  his  golden  jubilee  was  celebrated 
at  Cincinnati. 

The  last  years  of  his  life  were  saddened  by 
great  monetary  troubles,  caused  by  placing  the 
financial  affairs  of  the  archdiocese  in  the  hands 
of  his  brother.  Father  Edward  Purcell,  the  vicar- 
general,  whom  he  permitted  to  receive  money  on 
deposit.  Both  were  unacquainted  with  the  prin- 
ciples of  business,  and  when  conditions  were  in- 
vestigated, in  1879,  it  was  discovered  the  liabili- 
ties were  very  large.  While  the  crisis  was  widely 
discussed,  no  one  questioned  the  integrity  of  the 
archbishop,  and  it  was  learned  he  had  been  a 
bishop  for  twenty-five  years  before  accepting  any 
salary.  Father  Edward  Purcell  died  soon  after- 
wards. In  1880  the  archbishop  offered  his  resig- 
nation, but  instead  of  being  accepted,  a  coadjutor 
was  appointed  and  he  retired  to  St.  Martin's  Con- 
vent, in  Brown  County,  Ohio,  where  he  died  July 
4,  1883. 


52  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Archbishop  Purcell  met  Alexander  Camp- 
bell in  a  debate  on  religion  at  Cincinnati  that 
lasted  seven  days,  which  was  later  published  and 
extensively  read  throughout  the  United  States. 
He  ably  defended  the  Catholic  Church  and  did 
much  to  soften  the  prevailing  prejudice  against 
his  religious  faith,  and  brought  many  converts  to 
the  Church.  Among  his  publications  are:  "The 
Roman  Clergy  and  Free  Thought,"  1870;  "Lec- 
tures and  Pastoral  Letters,"  "Diocesan  Statutes, 
Acts,  and  Decrees  of  Three  Provincial  Councils 
Held  in  Cincinnati,"  and  a  series  of  books  for 
parochial  schools  in  the  diocese.  At  the  time  of 
his  death  the  archdiocese  of  Cincinnati  had  a 
Catholic  population  of  upwards  of  200,000. 

James  Louis  O'Donnel 

James  Louis  O'Donnel,  the  apostle  of  New- 
foundland and  colonial  R.  C.  bishop,  was  born 
at  Knocklofty,  County  Tipperary,  in  1738.  At 
the  age  of  eighteen  he  left  Ireland  and  entered 
the  Franciscan  Convent  of  St.  Isidore  at  Rome. 
He  afterwards  was  sent  to  Bohemia,  and  upon 
the  completion  of  his  theological  studies  was  or- 
dained priest  at  Prague,  in  1770.  In  1775  he 
returned  to  Ireland  and  settled  at  Waterford.  In 
1779  he  was  appointed  prior  of  the  Franciscans 
there,  and  subsequently  became  provincial  of  the 
order  in  Ireland. 

In  1784  Father  O'Donnel  was  sent  to  New- 
foundland as  prefect  and  vicar-apostolic,  "being 
the  first  fully  accredited  Catholic  ecclesiastic  who 
had  appeared  in  Newfoundland  since  it  became 
a  British  possession."  In  1796  he  was  conse- 
crated at  Quebec,  Titular  Bishop  of  Thyatira. 
On  his  return  to  Newfoundland,  Bishop  O'Don- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  53 

nel  made  his  first  episcopal  visitation.  He  estab- 
lished missions  at  Harbor  Grace  and  in  other 
parts  of  the  island,  and  in  1801  published  a  body 
of  diocesan  statutes,  divided  the  diocese  into  mis- 
sions, and,  ov^ing-  to  the  scarcity  of  clergymen,  he 
was  often  obliged  to  perform  the  duties  of  a 
mission  priest.  The  missionary  duties  of  Bishop 
O'Donnel  at  length  wore  out  his  health,  and  in 
1807  he  was  obliged  to  resign  his  see  and  return 
to  Ireland. 

In  recognition  of  his  services  to  the  colony  of 
Newfoundland,  the  British  government  granted 
him  a  life  pension  of  £50  per  annum.  He  spent 
the  last  years  of  his  life  at  Waterford,  where  he 
died  April  15,  1811.  Bishop  O'Donnel's  name 
was  one  of  the  most  honored  in  Newfoundland 
during  his  time,  and  his  position  in  the  island 
was  as  exalted  as  that  of  the  chief  executive.  His 
deep  religious  character  and  inherent  gentleness 
won  the  respect  of  all.  It  has  been  said  that, 
through  his  counsels  and  activity  in  promoting 
Christian  work,  and  by  his  services  to  the  colony 
in  suppressing  a  mutiny  among  the  soldiers  of 
the  Newfoundland  regiment  stationed  at  St. 
John's  in  1800,  his  arrival  in  the  island  was  of 
more  importance  to  the  government  than  a  gar- 
rison or  the  advent  of  a  half  dozen  admiral- 
governors. 

Michael  0*Connor 

Michael  O'Connor,  R.  C.  bishop,  was  born  in 
the  city  of  Cork,  September  27,  1810.  He  passed 
his  youth  in  Queenstown,  where  he  received  a 
grammar-school  education.  At  the  age  of  four- 
teen he  was  sent  to  the  College  of  the  Propa- 
ganda at  Rome,  by  Bishop  Coppinger,  and  here 


54  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

completed  his  studies  in  philosophy  and  theology 
before  reaching  the  canonical  age.  For  being 
the  most  able  student  in  mathematics,  he  was 
given  a  gold  medal  by  the  college,  and  his  pro- 
fessor is  said  to  have  remarked  that  had  he  de- 
voted himself  to  this  department  of  scholarship, 
he  would  have  developed  into  one  of  the  most 
skilled  mathematicians  of  his  time.  He  won  his 
doctor's  degree  in  a  public  disputation  of  great 
brilliancy,  in  which  the  thesis  contained  all  the 
branches  of  theology  and  philosophy  that  was 
embraced  in  the  test  which  made  St.  Thomas  and 
St.  Bonaventure  doctors  of  the  University  of 
Paris  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

He  was  ordained  priest  at  Rome  in  1833  and 
appointed  professor  of  sacred  Scripture  and  later 
vice-rector  of  the  Irish  College  in  that  city.  In 
1834,  after  having  spent  ten  years  in  Rome,  he 
returned  to  Ireland  and  was  made  pastor  of  Fer- 
moy.  Subsequently  he  became  chaplain  to  the 
Presentation  Convent  at  Doneraile.  In  1839, 
Father  O'Connor  accepted  an  offer  from  Bishop 
Kenrick  of  Philadelphia  to  come  to  America,  and 
was  made  president  of  the  Seminary  of  St. 
Charles  Borromeo.  While  discharging  the  du- 
ties of  this  office,  he  visited  the  missions  of  Nor- 
ristown  and  Westchester  twice  a  month  and  built 
St.  Francis  Xavier's  Church  at  Fairmount. 

In  1841  Father  O'Connor  was  sent  to  Pitts- 
burg, then  in  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia,  as 
vicar-general,  and  became  pastor  of  St.  Paul's 
Church.  The  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore, 
which  met  in  1843,  having  favored  the  erection 
of  a  new  see  in  the  western  part  of  Pennsylvania, 
Father  O'Connor  was  nominated  as  its  first 
bishop. 

For  many  years  he  had  desired  to  join  the 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  55 

Society  of  Jesus,  but  as  a  student  of  the  Propa- 
ganda he  was  unable  to  do  so  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  Pope;  hence,  in  1843,  he  hastened  to 
Rome  to  ask  permission  and  thus  escape  the  epis- 
copal appointment.  When  he  knelt  before  Greg- 
ory XVI.,  however,  he  was  not  permitted  to  rise 
until  consenting  to  become  bishop  of  the  new 
diocese,  the  Pope  saying:  "You  shall  be  Bishop 
of  Pittsburg  first  and  Jesuit  afterwards."  He 
was  consecrated  by  Cardinal  Franzoni,  August 
15,  1843,  at  St.  Agatha's,  the  Church  of  the  Irish 
College  at  Rome.  Before  his  return  to' this  coun- 
try, he  visited  Ireland,  where  he  was  joined  by 
a  number  of  ecclesiastical  students  and  sisters  of 
the  newly  created  order  of  Our  Lady  of  Mercy, 
who  came  with  him  to  America. 

His  diocese  had  thirty-three  churches  (some 
unfinished),  two  religious  institutions,  fourteen 
priests,  and  a  Catholic  population  of  about  25,- 
000.  Bishop  O'Connor  held  his  first  diocesan 
synod  in  1844,  and  the  same  year  he  founded  a 
female  academy  and  orphan  asylum,  under  the 
care  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  Sunday  Schools, 
total  abstinence  societies,  and  a  circulating 
library.  The  Sisters  of  Mercy  opened  an  acad- 
emy for  young  ladies,  and  a  school  for  boys  was 
established  under  the  charge  of  Rev.  J.  Mullen, 
afterwards  Bishop  of  Erie.  In  1844  a  paper 
known  as  The  Catholic  was  started,  and  St. 
Michael's  Seminary,  for  the  education  of  candi- 
dates for  the  priesthood,  was  founded.  He  vis- 
ited Europe  in  1845  to  secure  priests  for  his  dio- 
cese, and  returned  to  Pittsburg  in  December  of 
that  year  with  four  Presentation  Brothers,  who 
established  an  institution  of  their  order  and  took 
charge  of  a  school  for  boys.  In  1847  he  pur- 
chased a  large  piece  of  land  on  a  hill  south  of 


56  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Birmingham,  for  $16,000,  which  was  afterwards 
sold  and  assessed  for  $162,000. 

From  1847  to  1850  twelve  churches  were 
erected  in  the  diocese,  and  in  1855  the  new  cathe- 
dral was  completed,  being  one  of  the  largest  in 
the  United  States  at  that  time.  Archbishop 
Hughes  delivered  a  brilliant  sermon  at  the  dedi- 
cation ceremonies.  The  consecrating  prelate  was 
Archbishop  Kenrick  of  Philadelphia.  In  1852 
Bishop  O'Connor  again  visited  Europe  and  re- 
turned with  a  colony  of  Passionists,  who  founded 
their  first  establishment  in  the  United  States  at 
Pittsburg.  In  1853  the  See  of  Pittsburg  was 
divided  and  the  diocese  of  Erie  was  erected. 
Bishop  O'Connor,  at  his  own  request,  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  new  diocese,  but  was  soon  recalled 
by  the  Pope,  who  had  been  petitioned  by  the 
people  of  Pittsburg  for  the  return  of  their  old 
bishop.  In  1854  he  was  summoned  to  Rome  by 
Pope  Pius  IX.  to  take  part  in  defining  the  dogma 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  and  it  is  claimed 
that  changes  in  the  wording  of  the  decree  were 
due  to  his  suggestions. 

Bishop  O'Connor's  resignation  was  accepted 
May  23,  1860,  when  he  sailed  for  Europe,  and  in 
December  following  he  entered  a  Jesuit  monas- 
tery in  Germany.  After  remaining  there  two 
years,  he  was  allowed,  by  special  dispensation,  to 
take  the  four  vows  at  once.  Returning  to  the 
United  States,  he  taught  theology  in  Boston  Col- 
lege, subsequently  became  socius  to  the  provin- 
cial of  the  Jesuits,  and  delivered  lectures  in  many 
parts  of  the  United  States.  The  latter  office  he 
held  until  his  death.  He  was  an  eloquent  pulpit 
orator  and  a  brilliant  linguist.  He  was  an  ardent 
worker  among  the  colored  people,  and  through 
his  efforts  St.  Francis  Xavier's  Church  in  Balti- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  57 

more  was  secured  for  them.  He  died  in  the  col- 
lege at  Woodstock,  Md.,  October  18,  1872.  His 
remains  were  interred  there  with  other  deceased 
members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  His  brother, 
James  O'Connor,  who  was  associated  with 
him  in  Pittsburg,  became  afterwards  Bishop  of 
Omaha. 

Thomas  Francis  Hendricken 

Thomas  Francis  Hendricken,  R.  C.  bishop, 
was  born  in  Kilkenny,  May  5,  1827.  He  was  the 
son  of  John  and  Anne  Maher  Hendricken.  In 
1844  Thomas  entered  St.  Kieran's  College,  Kil- 
kenny, and  in  1847  was  admitted  as  an  ecclesi- 
astic student  in  the  Royal  College  of  Maynooth, 
where  he  graduated  six  years  later.  In  addition 
to  theology  he  acquired  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  other  branches  of  learning  in  this  famous  Cath- 
olic institution.  In  1853,  after  having  completed 
his  studies,  Hendricken  was  ordained  by  Bishop 
O'Reilly  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  who  was  on  a  visit 
to  Ireland.  He  induced  the  young  priest  to  select 
America  as  his  field  of  labor.  While  on  the  voy- 
age some  of  the  passengers  became  affected  with 
a  malignant  disease,  and  when  Father  Hen- 
dricken undertook  to  aid  the  sick,  despite  the 
orders  of  the  captain,  he  was  saved  from  violence 
only  by  the  intervention  of  a  fellow-passenger. 

His  first  service  in  America  was  at  the  cathe- 
dral in  Providence,  R.  I.  Later  he  officiated  at 
Newport  and  Woonsocket.  In  January,  1854,  he 
was  sent  to  St.  Joseph's  Church  at  West  Win- 
sted,  Conn.  In  1855  he  was  promoted  to  the 
Church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  at  Water- 
bury,  where  he  ministered  for  seventeen  years. 
Here  he  built  a  costly  Gothic  church,  a  school 


58  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

and  a  pastoral  residence,  and  laid  out  a  beautiful 
cemetery.  Father  Hendricken  also  introduced 
the  Sisters  of  the  Congregation  of  Notre  Dame, 
established  the  convent  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception, and  for  a  number  of  years  was  an  active 
member  of  the  public  board  of  education,  taking 
a  keen  interest  in  the  education  of  poor  children 
of  all  denominations.  In  1866  he  received  the 
degree  of  D.  D.  from  Pope  Pius  IX. 

When  the  diocese  of  Hartford  vv^as  divided, 
in  1872,  and  a  part  (which  embraced  the  state  of 
Rhode  Island  and  a  part  of  Massachusetts)  was 
erected  into  the  See  of  Providence,  Father  Hen- 
dricken was  appointed  bishop  of  the  newly  cre- 
ated diocese.  He  was  consecrated  at  Providence 
by  Cardinal  McCloskey  of  New  York  on  April 
28,  1872.  The  next  year  Bishop  Hendricken  vis- 
ited Rome,  and  again  in  1878.  During  his  admin- 
istration numerous  churches  were  erected,  in- 
cluding a  new  cathedral  (in  1878),  to  meet  the 
demands  of  a  rapidly  increasing  Catholic  popu- 
lation, which  ranks  among  the  foremost  struc- 
tures of  its  kind  in  the  United  States.  He  also 
erected  many  other  churches  and  schools  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  his  diocese.  The  Jesuit  Fathers 
were  placed  in  charge  of  St.  Joseph's  parish. 
Providence;  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  es- 
tablished their  house  at  Elmhurst,  the  Ursulines 
came  to  teach  in  the  parish  schools,  and  the  Sis- 
ters of  Jesus  and  Mary  opened  a  branch  in  Fall 
River,  Mass.  An  orphan  asylum  and  hospital 
were  erected,  the  priests  and  parishes  doubled, 
and  the  opportunities  for  a  Catholic  education 
greatly  improved  and  extended. 

During  all  these  labors  Bishop  Hendricken 
was  a  constant  sufferer  from  asthma  and  was 
often  confined  to  his  bed.     During  the  twenty- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  59 

four  years  of  his  ministry  he  paid  for  church 
property  valued  at  $1,000,000.  He  died  at  Provi- 
dence, R.  I.,  June  11,  1886,  and  was  buried  be- 
neath the  main  altar  of  the  new  cathedral,  which 
had  just  been  completed. 

Thomas  Galberry 

Thomas  Galberry,  R.  C.  bishop  and  educator, 
was  born  at  Naas,  County  Kildare,  in  1833. 
When  he  was  three  years  old  his  parents  emi- 
grated to  the  United  States,  settling  at  Philadel- 
phia, Pa.  He  entered  Villanova  College,  near  the 
latter  city,  in  1847,  and  December  20,  1856,  aftef 
completing  his  theological  studies,  was  ordained 
priest  by  Bishop  Neumann  of  Philadelphia.  He 
was  then  made  one  of  the  professors  at  Villanova 
College,  two  years  later  was  appointed  to  the  pas- 
toral charge  of  the  Augustinian  mission  at  St. 
Dennis'  Church,  nearby,  which  was  founded  by 
the  order  in  1825,  and  styled  by  the  Augustinians 
as  "our  training  school  for  bishops."  Many  dis- 
tinguished clergymen  of  the  United  States  re- 
ceived their  early  training  there.  He  was  trans- 
ferred to  Lansingburg,  N.  Y.,  in  1860,  where  he 
erected  a  beautiful  Gothic  church,  the  corner- 
stone of  which  was  laid  by  Bishop  McCloskey  in 
June,  1864,  and  also  built  a  convent  for  the  Sis- 
ters of  St.  Joseph. 

While  still  pastor  at  Lansingburg  he  was 
appointed  superior  of  the  Commissariat  of  Our 
Lady  of  Good  Council,  the  Augustinian  mission 
in  the  United  States.  Father  Galberry  continued 
to  act  as  pastor  at  Lansingburg  until  1870,  when 
he  was  transferred  to  the  Augustinian  Church  at 
Lawrence,  Mass.  Here  he  assumed  charge  of 
completing  the  building  of  a  new  church,  which, 
however,  was  finished  by  his  successor. 


6o  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

In  1872  he  was  elected  president  of  Villanova 
College,  to  succeed  Rev.  Dr.  Stanton,  O.  S.  A. 
While  president  of  that  institution  he  erected  a 
new  college  building  and  rearranged  and  im- 
proved the  course  of  studies.  In  1874,  when  the 
Augustinian  order  decided  to  erect  the  Commis- 
sariat of  Our  Lady  of  Good  Council  in  the  United 
States  into  a  religious  province,  under  the  patron- 
age of  St.  Thomas  of  Villanova,  Father  Galberry 
was  elected  provincial.  This  was  the  first  elec- 
tion of  a  superior  by  the  Augustinians  in  this 
country. 

March  15,  1875,  he  was  nominated  Bishop  of 
Hartford,  but  owing  to  his  attachment  to  the 
monastic  life,  he  forwarded  his  resignation  to 
Rome,  but  was  forced  to  accept,  and  he  was  ac- 
cordingly consecrated,  at  Hartford,  Conn.,  March 
19,  1876,  by  Archbishop  Williams.  Shortly  after 
his  consecration  he  visited  Rome  and  other  parts 
of  Europe.  Bishop  Galberry  founded  the  Con- 
necticut Catholic,  the  official  paper  of  the  dio- 
cese, and  built  two  churches  and  a  new  cathe- 
dral. His  constitution,  never  strong,  was  being 
gradually  weakened  by  his  new  duties,  and,  in 
failing  health,  he  set  out  for  Villanova  to  seek 
rest,  but  was  seized  with  hemorrhages  at  New 
York  City,  where  he  died  October  10,  1878. 

James  Whelan 

James  Whelan,  R.  C.  bishop,  was  born  in 
Kilkenny,  December  8,  1823,  and  came  to  the 
United  States  with  his  parents  when  a  boy.  In 
1839  he  entered  the  Dominican  Seminary  at 
Springfield,  Ky.,  and  took  the  vows  in  1842.  He 
then  entered  the  Dominican  Convent  at  Somer- 
set, Ohio,  where  he  completed  his  theological 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  6i 

studies,  and  was  ordained  priest  by  Archbishop 
Purcell,  August  2,  1846.  In  1852  he  was  elected 
president  of  St.  Joseph's  College,  Perry  County, 
Ohio,  and  in  1854  was  appointed  provincial  of  the 
Dominican  province,  which  embraced  all  of  this 
country  except  the  Pacific  coast. 

While  provincial  he  was  chosen  coadjutor  to 
Bishop  Miles  of  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  conse- 
crated Bishop  of  Marcopolis  at  St.  Louis,  May  5, 
1859.  After  the  death  of  Bishop  Miles,  February 
21,  1860,  he  succeeded  to  the  bishopric  of  Nash- 
ville. Bishop  Whelan  immediately  began  to  es- 
tablish an  academy,  a  boarding  school,  and  an 
orphan  asylum,  all  of  which  he  placed  under 
the  care  of  the  Dominican  Sisters.  During  the 
civil  war,  being  allowed  to  pass  through  the  lines 
of  the  Federal  army,  he  visited  Bishop  Spalding 
at  Louisville,  and  upon  his  return  was  accused 
by  the  Confederates  of  making  remarks,  while 
in  the  lines  of  the  enemy,  which  had  influenced 
the  movements  of  the  Union  army. 

This  loss  of  favor  with  the  Southern  peo- 
ple and  the  state  of  chaos  in  which  his  diocese 
had  fallen  by  the  subsequent  campaigns,  affected 
him  greatly,  and  in  February,  1864,  he  resigned 
his  see  and  retired  to  St.  Joseph's  Convent.  The 
latter  part  of  his  life  was  spent  at  St.  Thomas' 
Church  and  parochial  residence,  Zanesville, 
Ohio,  where  he  died,  February  18,  1878.  He  was 
the  author  of  "Catena  Aurea,  or  a  Golden  Chain 
of  Evidence  Demonstrating  that  Papal  Infalli- 
bility Is  No  Novelty,"  1871. 

Denis  Mary  Bradley 

Denis  Mary  Bradley,  R.  C.  bishop,  was  born 
at  Castleisland,  County  Kerry,  February  25, 
1846.     He  came  to  the  United  States  with  his 


(^2  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

parents  when  eight  years  old  and  settled  at  Man- 
chester, N.  H.,  where  he  received  his  early  educa- 
tion. He  subsequently  entered  Holy  Cross  Col- 
lege, Worcester,  Mass.,  and  graduated  in  1867. 
That  same  year  he  entered  St.  Joseph's  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  Troy,  N.  Y.,  where  he  was  or- 
dained priest,  jfune  3,  1871.  He  then  became 
rector  of  the  Cathedral  at  Portland,  Me.,  and  also 
chancellor  of  the  diocese  under  the  administra- 
tions of  Bishops  Bacon  and  Healy. 

In  1880  he  was  appointed  pastor  of  St.  Jo- 
seph's Church  at  Manchester,  N.  H.,  and  four 
years  later  became  the  first  bishop  of  the  newly- 
constituted  See  of  Manchester.  Bishop  Bradley's 
energy  and  zeal  in  the  promotion  of  religious 
and  educational  institutions  throughout  his  dio- 
cese greatly  improved  the  condition  of  his  peo- 
ple. He  died  at  Manchester,  N.  H.,  December 
13,  1903. 

Patrick  Nieson  Lynch 

Patrick  Nieson  Lynch,  R.  C.  bishop,  was 
born  at  Clones,  County  Monaghan,  March  10, 
1817.  He  was  the  son  of  Conlan  P.  and  Eleanor 
McMahon  N.  Lynch,  who,  in  1819,  emigrated  to 
America  and  settled  at  Cheraw,  S.  C.  Patrick 
received  his  early  education  at  the  Seminary  of 
St.  John  the  Baptist  at  Charleston,  and  in  1834 
was  sent  to  Rome  by  Bishop  England  to  com- 
plete his  studies  at  the  College  of  the  Propa- 
ganda. He  remained  at  the  latter  institution  for 
six  years,  became  one  of  its  most  brilliant  schol- 
ars, graduated  with  honors,  and  received  the  de- 
gree of  D.  D.  by  a  public  thesis. 

In  1840  he  was  ordained  priest,  returned  to 
America,  and  was  appointed  assistant  pastor  in 
the  Cathedral  of  St.  Finbar  at  Charleston.     In 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  63 

1844  he  was  made  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  Church 
by  Bishop  Reynolds,  and  in  1847  principal  of 
the  Collegiate  Institute,  subsequently  serving  as 
vicar-general  of  the  diocese.  In  1848,  when  an 
epidemic  of  yellow  fever  raged  in  Charleston, 
Father  Lynch  took  personal  charge  of  one  of  the 
hospitals.  He  caught  the  disease  himself,  but  by 
excellent  care  and  nursing  his  life  was  saved. 

On  the  death  of  Bishop  Reynolds,  in  1855, 
he  was  made  administrator  of  the  diocese,  which 
office  he  held  for  three  years,  when  he  was  ap- 
pointed bishop,  and  consecrated  March  14,  1858, 
by  Archbishop  Kenrick  of  Baltimore.  The  Ba- 
hama Islands  were  subsequently  added  to  the 
diocese. 

Soon  after  the  opening  of  the  civil  war  a 
fire  destroyed  a  portion  of  Charleston,  including 
the  new  cathedral  Bishop  Lynch  had  built,  and 
other  church  property.  Sherman's  march  to  the 
sea,  and  the  burning  of  Columbia,  with  its  col- 
lege and  convent,  further  augmented  the  distress 
of  the  once  prosperous  diocese.  The  sympathies 
of  Bishop  Lynch  were  naturally  with  the  South 
and  he  was  sent  to  France  on  a  mission  of  peace 
by  the  Confederate  government,  as  had  Arch- 
bishop Hughes  of  New  York  been  sent  by  the 
North.  At  the  close  of  the  war  the  diocese  was 
left  in  a  state  of  chaos,  being  over  $200,000  in 
debt,  $100,000  of  which  represented  savings  of 
the  poor  who  had  deposited  their  money  with 
Bishop  Lynch.  He  devoted  the  remainder  of  his 
life  to  restoring  the  diocese  to  its  former  pros- 
perity. Churches  and  institutions  were  rebuilt 
and  all  but  $15,000  of  the  debt  was  paid  at  the 
time  of  his  death.  The  greater  part  of  this 
money  was  secured  by  his  own  efforts  outside 
the  state  of  South  Carolina. 


64  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

In  1871  yellow  fever  again  broke  out  in 
Charleston,  and,  although  weakened  by  excessive 
labor,  he  hastened  to  Charleston  and  courage- 
ously exposed  himself  to  the  dangers  of  the 
plague  by  ministering  to  the  sick  and  dying. 
His  powerful  constitution  gradually  declined  in 
the  last  years  of  his  life,  and  he  died  at  Charles- 
ton, S.  C,  February  26,  1882. 

From  the  time  of  his  ordination  until  his 
death  he  had  attended  the  councils  of  Baltimore, 
both  provincial  and  plenary.  He  was  a  profound 
scholar,  a  brilliant  orator  and  lecturer,  and  a 
learned  scientist.  He  had  been  for  several  years 
editor  of  the  United  States  Catholic  Miscellany. 
Bishop  Lynch  contributed  a  number  of  interest- 
ing articles  to  the  periodicals  and  revised  and 
edited  the  American  edition  of  Deharbe's  "Series 
of  Catechisms."  His  letters  on  the  "Vatican 
Council"  (written  for  the  Catholic  World)  and 
"The  Miracle  of  St.  Januarius"  were  published 
in  book  form. 

Francis  Alison 

Francis  Alison,  educator  and  Presbyterian 
divine,  was  born  in  County  Donegal,  in  1705.  He 
was  educated  in  the  schools  of  his  native  coun- 
try and  at  the  University  of  Glasgow,  coming 
to  America  in  1735.  He  was  ordained  minister 
in  1737  and  taught  in  various  parts  of  the  colo- 
nies previous  to  the  revolutionary  war, 

Alison  was  one  of  the  best  classical  scholars 
of  his  time  in  the  colonies  and  assisted  in  the 
education  of  many  of  the  leading  men  of  that 
period.  He  was  vice-provost  of  the  College  of 
Philadelphia  from  1755  until  1777  and  pastor  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  church.     He  delivered  a 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  6$ 

remarkable  sermon  on  "Peace  and  Unity  Recom- 
mended." By  his  will  all  his  slaves  were  eman- 
cipated. He  received  the  degree  of  A.  M.  from 
Princeton  and  Yale  colleges  in  1755  and  that  of 
D.  D.  from  Glasgow  University  in  1758.  He 
died  at  Philadelphia,  November  28,  1799. 

Francis  Makemie 

Francis  Makemie,  Presbyterian  clergyman, 
distinguished  in  the  early  history  of  the  Amer- 
ican colonies,  was  born  in  Ramelton,  County 
Donegal,  in  1658.  He  studied  for  the  ministry  at 
Glasgow.  After  being  ordained  he  came  to  this 
country,  in  1682,  and  began  preaching  and  trad- 
ing, principally  in  Maryland,  Virginia,  the  Caro- 
linas  and  in  Barbadoes.  In  1690  he  settled  in 
Accomac  County,  Virginia,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged in  the  West  India  trade,  and  where,  in 
1692,  a  large  tract  of  land  was  granted  him.  He 
shortly  afterwards  went  to  the  Barbadoes  and 
held  a  pastorate  for  several  years,  but  returning 
to  Virginia  in  1698,  he  organized  a  congregation, 
which  he  served  for  some  time. 

In  1704  Makemie  went  to  England  and  re- 
turned with  several  ministers.  In  1706  he  or- 
ganized, at  Philadelphia,  the  first  presbytery  in 
America,  and  is,  therefore,  regarded  as  the  father 
of  Presbyterianism  in  this  country.  In  January, 
1707,  he  was  arrested  at  Newton,  Long  Island, 
on  a  warrant  issued  by  Governor  Cornbury  for 
preaching  on  the  19th  of  that  month,  without  a 
license,  in  a  private  house  in  New  York.  He  was 
kept  in  prison  until  the  following  March,  when 
he  was  released  on  bail.  In  June  of  the  same 
year  he  was  tried  in  New  York  and  was  acquitted 
of  the  charge  of  transgressing  the  toleration  act, 


66  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

on  producing  the  license  to  preach  which  he  had 
received  in  Barbadoes. 

The  opposition  of  Governor  Cornbury,  how- 
ever, continued,  and  in  justifying  his  action,  he 
wrote  of  Makemie  as  "a  preacher,  a  doctor  of 
physic,  a  merchant,  an  attorney,  a  counselor-at- 
law,  and,  which  is  worst  of  all,  a  disturber  of 
governments."  Makemie  printed  a  "Narrative" 
of  this  affair,  and  many  tracts,  some  of  which 
have  since  been  republished.  His  "Answer  to 
George  Keith's  Libel"  (Boston,  1692)  was  char- 
acterized by  Increase  Mather  as  the  work  of  "a 
reverent  and  judicious  minister."  Two  of 
Makemie's  letters,  addressed  to  Mather,  dated 
1684  and  1685,  are  still  extant  and  preserved  in 
the  library  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  So- 
ciety. He  married  Naomi  Anderson,  the  daugh- 
ter of  a  wealthy  Virginia  merchant.  Makemie 
died  in  Virginia,  in  the  summer  of  1708. 


John  Murray 

John  Murray,  Presbyterian  clergyman,  was 
born  in  Antrim,  May  22,  1742.  He  was  educated 
at  Edinburgh,  came  to  America  in  1763,  and  held 
several  pastorates  in  the  colonies  prior  to  the 
revolution.  He  entered  with  enthusiasm  into  the 
patriotic  cause,  and  such  was  his  eloquence  that 
on  one  occasion,  after  an  address,  a  company  was 
raised  for  the  Continental  army  in  a  few  hours. 
He  acquired  great  influence  over  the  people  of 
his  district  by  his  powers  as  a  preacher  and  his 
patriotic  activity  throughout  that  sanguinary 
struggle.  In  1780  he  published  a  volume  of 
"Sermons  on  Justification,"  and  in  1791  "Sermon 
on  Original  Sin."    The  latter  part  of  his  life  was 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  67 

passed  at  Newburyport,  Mass.,  where  he  died, 
March  13,  1793. 

James  Waddel 

James  Waddel,  Presbyterian  clergyman, 
was  born  at  Newry,  County  Down,  in  July,  1739. 
He  was  brought  to  America  by  his  parents  in 
infancy,  who  settled  on  White  Clay  Creek,  in 
Pennsylvania.  He  was  educated  at  Dr.  Finley's 
"log  college"  at  Nottingham,  Pa.,  of  which  he 
was  made  a  tutor,  and  afterwards  became  an 
assistant  in  the  school  of  Rev.  Robert  Smith,  at 
Pequea,  Pa. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  went  to  Hanover 
County,  Va.,  and  became  the  friend  of  Colonel 
Plenry,  father  of  Patrick  Henry,  and  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Davies.  He  subsequently  taught  in  the 
school  of  Rev.  John  Todd  at  Louisa,  and  devoted 
his  spare  time  to  the  study  of  theology.  He  was 
licensed  to  preach  April  2,  1761,  and  June  16, 
1762,  was  ordained  minister  at  Prince  Edward. 
He  accepted  a  call  from  Lancaster  and  Northum- 
berland counties,  where  he  remained  until  about 
1778,  when  he  removed  to  Tinkling  Spring,  in 
the  Shenandoah  valley.  During  the  revolution- 
ary war  he  addressed,  prior  to  their  departure 
to  engage  in  the  battle  of  Guildford  Courthouse, 
a  company  formed  principally  of  his  con- 
gregation. 

In  1786  he  purchased  an  estate  in  Louisa 
County,  Va.,  near  Gordonsville,  which  he  named 
Hopewell,  where  he  continued  to  preach,  and 
opened  a  private  school  in  his  own  residence.  He 
became  totally  blind  in  his  latter  years,  but  this 
affliction  did  not  weaken  his  intellectual  powers 
nor  diminish  his  activity  of  body.    Possessed  of 


68  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

great  eloquence  and  controversial  abilities,  he 
had  few  equals  as  an  orator  among  his  contem- 
poraries in  America.  These  qualities  are  attested 
by  William  Wirt  in  an  article  published  by  him 
in  the  British  Spy.  He  had  listened  to  a  sermon 
by  the  "blind  preacher"  while  passing  through 
Orange  County,  Virginia,  and  says  in  part:  "It 
was  a  day  of  the  administration  of  the  sacrament, 
and  his  subject  ....  was  the  passion  of  our 
Savior.  I  had  heard  the  subject  handled  a  thou- 
sand times Little  did  I  suppose  that  in 

the  wild  woods  of  America  I  was  to  meet  a  man 
whose  eloquence  would  give  to  this  topic  a  new 
and  more  sublime  pathos  than  I  had  ever  before 
witnessed." 

The  honorary  degree  of  D.  D.  was  conferred 
on  him  by  Dickinson  College  in  1792.  About 
1768  he  married  Mary  Gordon,  daughter  of 
Colonel  James  Gordon,  by  whom  he  had  a  nu- 
merous family.  He  died  at  his  residence  in 
Louisa  County,  Virginia,  September  17,  1805. 
His  "Memoir"  was  published  by  his  grandson, 
James  W.  Alexander,  in  the  Watchman  of  the 
South,  1846. 

John  Hall 

John  Hall,  Presbyterian  clergyman,  was 
born  at  Ballygorman,  County  Donegal,  July  31, 
1829,  where  his  family  had  been  settled  for  six 
generations.  He  was  educated  at  Belfast  Col- 
lege, which  he  entered  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  and 
while  a  student  there  repeatedly  won  the  prizes 
for  Hebrew  scholarship  and  theology.  After 
graduating,  in  1849,  he  was  licensed  to  preach, 
in  June  of  that  year,  and  sent  to  the  West  of  Ire- 
land.    In  1852  he  became  pastor  of  the  First 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  69 

Presbyterian  Church  at  Armagh,  where  he  re- 
mained five  years,  when  he  accepted  a  call  from 
the  Church  of  St.  Mary's  Abbey  (now  Rutland 
Square),  Dublin,  in  which  charge  he  continued 
from  1858  until  1867.  Here  he  edited  the  Evan- 
gelical Witness,  built  a  new  church,  and  received 
the  honorary  appointment  of  commissioner  of 
education  for  Ireland.  While  on  a  visit  to  this 
country,  in  1867,  as  a  delegate  to  the  Presby- 
terian Assembly  of  the  United  States,  he  deliv- 
ered a  sermon  at  the  old  Fifth  Avenue  Church 
in  New  York  City.  He  made  such  a  favorable 
impression  upon  the  congregation  that  he  re- 
ceived a  call  from  that  body,  which  he  accepted 
after  his  return  to  Ireland.  He  delivered  his 
first  sermon  at  the  old  church  on  Nineteenth 
street,  November  3,  1867,  and  soon  became  one 
of  the  leading  preachers  of  his  denomination  in 
the  United  States.  A  new  church  was  built  in 
1873-74,  at  a  cost  of  $1,000,000,  and  missions  and 
charitable  institutions  were  established  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  New  York  City.  Under  Dr.  Hall 
the  Fifth  Avenue  Church  reached  the  height  of 
its  power,  and  became  one  of  the  most  affluent 
and  influential  Presbyterian  institutions  in  the 
world.  He  presided  over  this  congregation  for 
more  than  thirty  years,  and  the  church  was 
known  throughout  the  country  as  "Dr.  Hall's 
Church."  His  speeches  and  sermons  were  dis- 
tinguished for  their  logic  and  simple  eloquence. 
Dr.  Hall  was  trustee  of  Princeton  College,  the 
Union  Theological  Seminary  of  New  York,  and 
of  Wellesley  College,  Massachusetts;  chairman 
of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Home  Missions, 
and  of  the  Church  Extension  Committee,  He 
received  various  honorary  degrees,  among  which 
was  that  of  LL.  D.,  from  Columbia  University 


70  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

in  1886,  and  LL.  D.,  from  Trinity  College,  Dub- 
lin, in  1891.  From  1881  to  1891  he  was  Chancel- 
lor of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York. 
Dr.  Hall  resigned  his  pastorate  in  January,  1898, 
but  withdrew  his  resignation  on  the  urgent  re- 
quest of  his  congregation. 

He  was  a  prolific  writer  on  religious  topics, 
contributed  to  weekly  publications,  and  edited  a 
series  of  Sunday  school  lessons  which  were 
widely  used.  He  published  "Family  Prayers  for 
Four  Weeks,"  1868;  "Papers  for  Home  Read- 
ing," 1871 ;  "Questions  of  the  Day,"  1873;  "God's 
Word  Through  Preaching,"  1875;  "Familiar 
Talks  to  Boys,"  1876;  "Foundation  Stones  for 
Young  Builders,"  1879;  "A  Christian  Home," 
1883;  and,  in  conjunction  with  George  H. 
Stuart,  "American  Evangelists,"  1875.  June  15, 
1852,  he  married  Emily  Bolton,  of  Dublin,  Ire- 
land, by  whom  he  had  three  sons  and  one  daugh- 
ter. Dr.  Hall  died  at  Bangor,  County  Down, 
September  17,  1898,  while  on  his  annual  visit  to 
Ireland.  His  remains  were  returned  to  New 
York  and  interred  in  Woodlawn  cemetery.  His 
eldest  son,  Robert  W.  Hall,  became  professor  of 
analytical  chemistry  in  the  University  of  the 
City  of  New  York;  Richard  J.  Hall,  a  prominent 
physician  on  the  Pacific  coast,  died  at  Santa 
Barbara,  Cal.,  June  23,  1897;  Thomas  C.  Hall, 
pastor  of  the  Fourth  Presbyterian  Church  at 
Chicago  for  some  years,  is  now  professor  of  the- 
ology in  the  Union  Theological  Seminary;  Bol- 
ton Hall,  a  stepson,  is  a  well-known  lawyer  and 
lecturer. 

William  Homes 

William  Homes,  clergyman,  was  born  in 
the  North  of  Ireland,  in  1663.     He  received  a 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  71 

good  education,  and  when  a  young  man  removed 
to  New  England  and  taught  school  at  Martha's 
Vineyard,  Mass.,  for  three  years.  He  then  re- 
turned to  Ireland  and  was  ordained  minister  at 
Strabane,  in  1692.  Again  removing  to  New 
England,  in  1714,  he  became  a  pastor  at  Chil- 
mark,  Martha's  Vineyard,  where  he  died,  June 
20,  1746.  He  was  the  author  of  sermons  on 
"The  Sabbath,"  "Church  Government,"  and 
other  theological  works.  His  son.  Captain 
Robert  Homes,  married  a  sister  of  Benjamin 
Franklin. 

Gilbert  McMaster 

Gilbert  McMaster,  Presbyterian  clergyman 
and  theological  writer,  was  born  in  the  parish 
of  Saintfield,  County  Down,  February  13,  1778. 
While  he  was  still  a  child  his  father  emigrated 
to  America,  and  settled  in  Pennsylvania.  Gil- 
bert studied  theology  and  was  ordained  pastor 
of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  at 
Duanesburg,  N.  Y.,  in  1808,  where  for  thirty- 
two  years  he  exercised  his  ministry,  and  after- 
wards for  six  years  at  Princeton,  Ind.  In  1846, 
he  resigned,  owing  to  poor  health.  The  degree 
of  D.  D.  was  conferred  on  him  by  Union  College 
in  1828. 

McMaster  was  the  author  of  "The  Shorter 
Catechism  Analyzed,"  1815;  "The  Moral  Char- 
acter of  Civil  Government  Considered,"  1832, 
and  many  other  theological  works.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  1803  to  Jane  Brown.  He  died  at  New 
Albany,  Ind.,  March  15,  1854. 

His  son,  Erasmus  D.  McMaster,  was  or- 
dained minister  in  1831 ;  became  president  of 
South  Hanover  College,  Indiana,  in  1838;  presi- 


72  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

dent  of  Miami  University  in  1845;  professor  of 
theology  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  New- 
Albany,  Ind.,  in  1850,  and  of  the  Northwestern 
Theological  Seminary  at  Chicago  in  1866, 
where  he  died,  December  11th  of  that  year. 

Another  son,  James  A.  McMaster,  became  a 
Catholic,  and  in  1848  purchased  the  Freeman's 
Journal  and  Catholic  Register.  He  was  con- 
sidered during  his  time  the  foremost  Catholic 
journalist  in  the  United  States.  He  was  a  life- 
long Democrat,  but  opposed  the  candidacy  of 
Samuel  J.  Tilden.  He  died  at  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
December  29,  1886. 

John  Henry  Hopkins 

John  Henry  Hopkins,  Episcopal  bishop, 
was  born  in  Dublin,  January  30,  1792.  He  came 
to  America  with  his  parents  in  1801.  After  re- 
ceiving a  classical  education,  he  spent  a  year  in 
a  counting  house  at  Philadelphia,  assisted  Wil- 
son, the  great  ornithologist,  to  prepare  plates  for 
one  of  his  works,  and  about  1810  embarked  in 
the  manufacture  of  iron  in  western  Pennsyl- 
vania with  James  O'Hara.  He  became  bankrupt 
in  1817;  subsequently  studied  law,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  at  Pittsburg,  where  he  prac- 
ticed for  a  time  with  excellent  success.  In  No- 
vember, 1823,  he  entered  the  Episcopal  ministry, 
and  became  rector  of  Trinity  Church,  Pittsburg. 
He  then  studied  architecture,  and  built  a  new 
church.  In  1831  he  removed  to  Boston,  and 
the  next  year  was  consecrated  the  first  Bishop 
of  Vermont.  He  was  afterwards  involved  in 
financial  dif^culties  by  the  failure  of  the  Ver- 
mont Episcopal  Institute,  opened  under  his  re- 
sponsibility.    He  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  73 

Pan-Anglican  Synod  at  Lambeth,  and  was  made 
a  D.  C.  L.  of  Oxford.  He  was  an  accom- 
plished musician  and  artist.  Besides  innumer- 
able pamphlets,  he  published  many  books, 
among  which  are  "Christianity  Vindicated," 
New  York,  1833;  "Essay  on  Gothic  Architec- 
ture," 1836;  "Twelve  Canzonets,"  words  and 
music,  1839;  a  refutation  of  Milner's  "End  of 
Controversy,"  1854,  and  "A  Scriptural,  Histori- 
cal and  Ecclesiastical  View  of  Slavery,"  1864,  in 
which  he  advocates  the  Southern  view  of  slav- 
ery. He  died  at  Rock  Point,  Vt.,  January  9, 
1868. 

Of  his  five  sons,  all  born  in  this  country, 
John  Henry  became  a  noted  clergyman  and 
author,  Edward  Augustus  a  merchant,  Casper 
Thomas  a  journalist,  Charles  Jerome  a  musician, 
and  Frederick  Vincent  a  physician. 

Thomas  Barton 

Thomas  Barton,  clergyman,  was  born  in 
County  Monaghan,  in  1730.  After  graduating 
from  Dublin  University  he  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica, and  in  1751  opened  a  school  at  Norriston, 
Pa.  He  later  became  tutor  at  the  Academy  in 
Philadelphia  (now  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania). In  1753  he  married  a  sister  of  David 
Rittenhouse,  the  distinguished  mathematician 
and  astronomer. 

In  1754  Barton  went  to  England,  where  he 
was  ordained  in  the  established  church.  He  re- 
turned to  America  as  a  missionary  of  the  So- 
ciety for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  and 
settled  at  Lancaster,  Pa.,  where  he  was  made 
rector  of  St.  James's  Church,  remaining  for 
nearly  twenty  years.    His  adherence  to  the  roy- 


74  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

alist  party  after  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence compelled  him  to  leave  his  post  and  re- 
move to  New  York,  where  he  died,  May  25,  1780. 
He  was  the  father  of  Benjamin  Smith  Barton, 
American  physician  and  naturalist. 

Charles  Elliott 

Charles  Elliott,  Methodist  clergyman,  was 
born  in  County  Donegal,  May  16,  1792.  He 
studied  in  Dublin,  emigrated  to  the  United 
States  in  1814,  and  was  received  into  the  travel- 
ing connection  of  the  Ohio  Conference  in  1818. 
In  1822  he  was  appointed  superintendent  of  the 
Wyandotte  Indian  mission  at  Upper  Sandusky, 
Ohio.  He  was  presiding  elder  of  the  Ohio  dis- 
trict for  five  years,  and  from  1827  until  1831  pro- 
fessor of  languages  in  Madison  College  at 
Uniontown,  Pa.  Stationed  at  Pittsburg  in  1831, 
he  was  presiding  elder  of  that  district,  subse- 
quently editing  the  Pittsburg  Conference  Jour- 
nal and  the  Western  Christian  Advocate. 

About  1856  he  became  president  of  the  Iowa 
Wesleyan  University,  which  office  he  retained 
until  1860,  when  he  resigned,  and  was  made 
editor  of  a  religious  paper  at  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
During  the  civil  war  he  was  a  strong  supporter 
of  the  Union  cause.  He  was  the  author  of  nu- 
merous important  works,  principally  dealing 
with  the  history  of  the  Methodist  Church  and 
against  slavery.  He  died  at  Mount  Pleasant, 
Iowa,  January  6,  1869. 

John  Bowden 

John  Bowden,  clergyman,  was  born  in  Ire- 
land,   January    7,    1751.      He   was    brought    to 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  75 

America  by  his  father  (a  soldier  in  the  British 
army),  and  attended  school  for  two  years,  when 
he  returned  to  Ireland.  He  again  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  1770,  graduated  at  King's  College  two 
years  later,  and  subsequently  studied  divinity. 
Bowden  then  went  to  England,  where  he  was  or- 
dained, and,  returning  to  this  country  in  1774, 
was  made  assistant  minister  at  Trinity  Church, 
New  York  City,  where  he  officiated  for  some 
years.  He  also  held  pastorates  in  other  parts  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  West  Indies.  In  1796 
he  was  chosen  bishop  of  Connecticut,  but  de- 
clined the  position  owing  to  physical  disability. 
In  1797  he  received  the  degree  of  S.  T.  D. 
from  Columbia  College,  New  York,  in  which  in- 
stitution he  was  professor  of  moral  philosophy 
belles-lettres,  and  logic,  from  1802  until  his 
death.  He  was  the  author  of  "Portrait  of  Calvin- 
ism," two  letters  addressed  to  Ezra  Stiles,  presi- 
dent of  Yale  College,  "Concerning  Church  Gov- 
ernment," 1788;  "The  Apostolic  Origin  of  Epis- 
copacy," 1808,  and  other  theological  works. 
Bowden  was  not  in  sympathy  with  the  Amer- 
ican cause  in  the  revolutionary  war.  He  died 
at  Ballston  Spa,  N.  Y.,  July  31,  1817. 

Joseph  Banigan 

Joseph  Banigan,  manufacturer  and  philan- 
thropist, was  born  in  County  Monaghan,  June 
7,  1839.  At  the  age  of  eight  he  came  to  the 
United  States  and  settled  at  Providence,  R.  I. 
After  learning  the  jeweler's  trade  he  became 
identified  with  the  rubber  goods  business  in 
1860,  in  which  line  he  continued  the  remainder 
of  his  life,  and  became  known  as  the  "American 
Rubber  King."    He  organized  the  Woonsocket 


76  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Rubber  Company  in  1866,  and  at  different  times 
numerous  other  companies  of  the  same  nature. 
He  was  made  president  of  the  United  States 
Rubber  Company  upon  its  organization,  from 
which  office  he  retired  in  1896.  Banigan  was 
also  an  officer  in  numerous  mercantile  corpora- 
tions, and  acquired  a  fortune  of  many  millions. 

He  was  a  munificent  donator  to  the  fund 
for  building  the  new  cathedral  in  Providence, 
established  a  Home  for  the  Aged  Poor  in  1884, 
was  the  principal  benefactor  towards  establish- 
ing St.  Joseph's  Hospital,  St.  Joseph's  Orphan 
Asylum,  Home  for  Working  Girls,  and  St. 
Xavier's  Convent,  all  Catholic  institutions,  but 
accessible  to  Protestants  on  uniform  terms.  He 
bequeathed  a  large  fortune  to  charity.  For  his 
benevolent  acts  he  was  made  a  Knight  of  the 
Order  of  St.  Gregory  by  Pope  Leo  XIII. 

Banigan  was  a  member  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Historical  Society.  He  was  twice  mar- 
ried— first,  in  1860,  to  Margaret  Holt,  by  whom 
he  had  three  children.  After  her  death  he  mar- 
ried Maria  T.  Conway,  in  1873.  He  is  described 
as  being  of  sturdy  frame,  with  a  quiet,  unassum- 
ing manner — a  man  who  owed  his  success  to 
hard  work,  a  clear  head,  and  good,  sound  sense. 
He  died  at  Providence,  R.  I.,  July  28,  1898. 

Thomas  Francis  Walsh 

Thomas  Francis  Walsh,  capitalist  and  mine 
owner,  was  born  near  Clonmel,  County  Tippe- 
rary,  April  2,  1851.  He  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  Ireland  and  later  learned  the 
millwright's  trade.  In  1870  he  came  to  the 
United  States,  and  after  working  at  his  trade  in 
Worcester,  Mass.,  for  a  time,  he  removed  to 
Colorado,  in  1871.     He  located  at  Central  City 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  ^^ 

in  1874,  and  became  a  practical  miner.  The  next 
year  he  went  to  the  Black  Hills,  shortly  after  the 
discovery  of  gold  there;  located  first  at  Custer 
City,  and  subsequently  at  Deadwood,  S.  D., 
where  he  accumulated  $100,000. 

Returning  to  Colorado  in  1878,  he  went  to 
Leadville,  where  carbonate  silver  ore  had  been 
discovered,  and  purchased  a  hotel,  but  devoted 
most  of  his  time  to  mining  enterprises.  By  close 
study  he  acquired  an  intimate  knowledge  of 
geology,  metallurgy,  and  the  deposition  of  ore 
bodies.  Walsh  not  only  became  an  expert  min- 
ing engineer,  but,  in  1890,  introduced  into  Colo- 
rado the  Austin  pyritic  process  of  smelting  ores. 
In  1892  he  built  a  smelter  at  Kokomo,  Colo., 
operated  the  Black  Hawk  group  of  mines  at 
Rico  in  1894,  and  subsequently  built  the  Walsh 
smelter  at  Silverton. 

In  1896  Walsh  located  in  the  San  Juan  dis- 
trict, near  Ouray.  Here  he  discovered  ore  that 
was  rich  in  gold,  on  property  where  formerly 
there  had  been  a  number  of  silver  mines.  Walsh 
purchased  this  land,  known  as  the  Camp  Bird 
Mine,  which  became  one  of  the  richest  mines  in 
the  world,  and  laid  the  basis  of  his  great  for- 
tune. Here  he  installed  extensive  machinery, 
erected  smelters  for  reducing  ores,  built  com- 
fortable quarters  for  his  employees,  and  began 
to  develop  the  mines  on  a  broad  and  systematic 
scale.  Within  three  years  the  vield  was 
$3,000,000. 

In  the  winter  of  1898  Walsh  removed  to 
Washington,  and  in  1902  sold  the  Camp  Bird 
mine  to  an  English  syndicate  for  approximately 
$6,000,000.  At  Washington  he  erected  a  pala- 
tial residence,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the 
national  capital,  and  built  the  Ouray  and  Colo- 


78  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

rado  office  buildings.  Walsh  and  his  family 
became  prominent  socially  at  Newport,  Wash- 
ington and  Paris.  Wolhurst,  his  beautiful  coun- 
try home  near  Denver,  Colo.,  was  rechristened 
Clonmel  by  President  Taft  in  1909,  in  honor  of 
his  place  of  birth. 

In  1900  Walsh  was  commissioner  from 
Colorado  to  the  Paris  Exposition,  and,  while  at 
the  French  capital,  gave  a  series  of  social  enter- 
tainments which  were  the  talk  of  Europe. 
While  abroad  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of 
King  Leopold  of  Belgium,  with  whom  he  later 
became  associated  in  the  development  of  mines 
in  the  Congo.  Walsh  was  a  member  of  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science,  the  Washington  Academy  of  Science, 
and  of  the  National  Geographic  Society.  He 
was  elected  president  of  the  National  Irrigation 
Congress  in  1900,  of  the  Transmississippi  Con- 
gress in  1908,  and  was  a  member  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  the  Washington  Board  of 
Trade. 

Walsh  married  Carrie  B.  Reed  at  Leadville, 
in  1879,  by  whom  he  had  a  son  and  a  daughter. 
His  son,  Vinson  Walsh,  was  killed  in  an  automo- 
bile accident  at  Newport,  R.  I.,  August  19,  1905. 
His  daughter,  Evalyn  Walsh,  in  1908  married 
Edward  B.  McLean,  only  son  of  John  R.  Mc- 
Lean, owner  of  the  Cincinnati  Enquirer  and  the 
Washington  Post.  In  memory  of  his  son, 
Walsh  established  in  the  Colorado  School  of 
Mines,  at  Golden,  a  fund  to  be  used  in  the  free 
examination  of  ores  thought  to  contain  radium. 

He  died  at  Washington,  D.  C,  April  8,  1910. 
He  was  buried  in  Rock  Creek  cemetery  at  the 
national  capital.  His  wealth  has  been  variously 
estimated  at  from  ten  to  fifteen  million  dollars. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  79 

Alexander  Brown 

Alexander  Brown,  banker,  was  born  in 
Ballymena,  County  Antrim,  November  17,  1764. 
He  came  to  the  United  States  in  1800  and  set- 
tled in  Baltimore,  Md.,  where  he  soon  became 
an  extensive  importer  of  Irish  linens.  He  ulti- 
mately merged  into  the  commission  and  banking 
business,  in  which  he  built  up  an  extensive 
foreign  trade.  His  early  education  had  been 
Hmited,  but  with  marked  talent  for  business  he 
and  his  sons  founded  large  banking  houses  in 
Liverpool,  London,  Philadelphia  and  New  York 
City.  The  business  integrity  of  the  firm  made 
the  name  of  Alexander  Brown  &  Sons  respected 
both  in  America  and  Europe.  He  died  Decem- 
ber 17,  1834,  leaving  his  son  George  in  control 
of  the  Baltimore  house.  John  A.  Brown, 
another  son,  born  at  Ballymena,  May  21,  1788, 
was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Philadelphia 
house,  which  he  managed  for  twenty  years.  He 
died  December  31,  1872.  James  Brown,  the 
youngest  son,  opened  the  New  York  house  and 
was  also  the  American  representative  of  his 
brother,  William  (see  Volume  H.),  who  estab- 
lished the  Liverpool  and  London  houses. 

Patrick  Joseph  Healy 

Patrick  Joseph  Healy,  the  son  of  James  and 
Catherine  Sheehan  Plealy,  was  born  at  Mallow, 
County  Cork,  March  16,  1840.  He  came  to 
America  when  ten  years  of  age,  and  after  attend- 
ing school  at  Boston  a  few  years,  he  secured 
employment  as  errand  boy  in  the  music  house  of 
Henry  Tolman  &  Co.  in  that  city.  Shortly  after 
the  close  of  the  civil  war  Healy  came  to  Chicago, 


8o  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

where,  In  May,  1864,  he  established,  with  George 
W.  Lyon,  the  music  house  of  Lyon  &  Healy. 
Sheet  music  and  text-books  was  the  scope  of  the 
business  at  first,  but  within  six  years  the  firm 
absorbed  the  piano  and  organ  house  of  Smith  & 
Nixon,  and  established  a  wholesale  department 
of  musical  instruments. 

In  1870  the  establishment  was  destroyed  by 
fire,  and  again  in  the  great  fire  of  1871.  Healy 
found  new  quarters,  however,  and  from  that 
time  the  business  steadily  increased,  until  the 
concern  was  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading 
music  houses  in  the  world.  Healy  was  engaged 
in  the  music  trade  in  Chicago  for  more  than 
forty  years  and  became  known  as  the  dean  of 
that  business  in  America.  He  was  made  presi- 
dent of  the  concern  in  1890. 

Healy  was  married  twice — first,  in  1863,  to 
Mary  Griffith  (who  died  in  1877) ;  and  again  in 
1882,  to  Francis  Hannah,  who  died  in  1892.  He 
died  in  Chicago,  April  3,  1905,  and  was  interred 
in  Calvary  cemetery.  James,  Raymond  and 
Paul  Healy,  sons,  became  identified  with  the 
business  founded  by  their  father. 

John  Vaughn  Clarke 

John  Vaughn  Clarke,  banker,  was  born  at 
Union  Hall,  County  Cork,  in  1825.  He  was  a 
son  of  William  Clarke,  a  man  of  affluence,  who, 
owing  to  financial  reverses,  left  Ireland  and  re- 
moved to  Kingston,  Canada,  when  young  Clarke 
was  twelve  years  of  age.  The  boy  was  appren- 
ticed to  a  grocery  firm  in  Kingston,  but  removed 
to  New  York  a  few  years  later  and  entered  the 
wholesale  grocery  house  of  Dater  &  Co. 

In  1849  Clarke  removed  to  Chicago  and  es- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  8i 

tablished  the  wholesale  grocery  firm  of  Warren, 
Clarke  and  Dater.  In  1863  the  firm  closed  its 
business  in  Chicago  and  Clarke  went  back  to 
New  York.  Returning  to  Chicago  in  1867,  he 
established  the  Mercantile  Association,  the 
name  being  changed  to  the  Hibernian  Banking 
Association  in  1869.  Clarke  was  its  first  presi- 
dent and  continued  in  that  capacity  until  the 
time  of  his  death.  His  institution  was  regarded 
as  the  financial  center  of  Irish-Americans  in  Chi- 
cago, where  Clarke  was  one  of  the  influential 
men  of  his  race,  being  identified  with  its  business 
interests  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

He  was  married  to  Elizabeth  Bertrand, 
August  14,  1857.  He  died  August  8,  1892,  and 
his  remains  were  interred  in  Calvary  cemetery. 
Clarke  left  property  valued  at  over  a  million 
dollars.  His  wife  and  all  the  children — four 
sons  and  three  daughters — survived  him.  One 
of  his  daughters,  Anne  M.  Clarke,  is  the  wife  of 
ex-Mayor  Hempstead  Washburne.  John  V. 
Clarke,  a  son,  born  in  Chicago,  October  15,  1863, 
entered  the  Hibernian  Bank  in  1880  and  rose 
through  the  different  grades  of  the  institution, 
till,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  he  succeeded  to 
the  presidency.  He  successfully  piloted  the 
bank  through  the  panic  which  came  soon  after, 
and  since  then  has  greatly  increased  his  busi- 
ness. Two  other  sons,  Henry  B.  and  Louis  B. 
Clarke,  are  vice-presidents  and  directors  of  the 
same  institution.  It  is  the  oldest  savings  bank 
in  Chicago. 

John  Elliott  Cairnes 

John  Elliott  Cairnes,  political  economist, 
was  born  at  Castlebellingham,  County  Louth, 
December  26,   1823.     After  leaving   school  he 


82  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

spent  some  time  in  his  father's  counting-house, 
but  was  eventually  permitted  to  follow  his  nat- 
ural disposition,  and  enter  Trinity  College.  In 
1851  he  took  the  degree  of  M.  A.  He  engaged 
in  the  study  of  law  and  was  called  to  the  Irish 
bar.  Cairnes  did  not  have  much  inclination  for 
the  legal  profession,  and  during  some  years  oc- 
cupied himself  to  a  large  extent  with  contribu- 
tions to  the  daily  press,  chiefly  relating  to  vari- 
ous Irish  social  and  economic  questions.  Polit- 
ical economy  he  studied  with  great  thorough- 
ness and  care;  this  led  to  a  friendship  with  Arch- 
bishop Whately,  and  in  1856  he  was  appointed 
to  the  professorship  of  political  economy,  found- 
ed in  Trinity  College  by  that  prelate. 

In  1857  appeared  his  "Character  and  Logi- 
cal Method  of  Political  Economy,"  which  forms 
a  most  admirable  introduction  to  the  study  of 
economics  as  a  science.  Able  articles  in  Frazer's 
Magazine  and  the  Edinburgh  Review  on  the 
gold  question  as  relating  to  prices  next  occupied 
his  attention.  In  1861  he  was  appointed  to  the 
professorship  of  political  economy  and  jurispru- 
dence in  Queen's  College,  Galway. 

From  the  first  he  took  much  interest  in  the 
American  civil  war  of  1861-65,  and  combated 
Confederate  sympathies  by  the  publication  of 
*'The  Slave  Power,"  in  1862,  a  work  that  rapidly 
went  through  two  editions,  and  had  considerable 
influence  in  modifying  opinion  in  Great  Britain. 
The  Encyclopedia  Britannica  styles  it  "one  of 
the  finest  specimens  of  applied  economical  phi- 
losophy." His  health,  at  no  time  very  good, 
was  further  weakened,  about  1863,  by  a  fall 
from  his  horse,  and  an  acutely  painful  malady 
gradually  crept  over  him  that  ultimately  ren- 
dered physical  exertion  impossible. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  83 

In  1866  he  was  appointed  to  a  professorship 
in  University  College,  London.  He  spent  the 
season  of  1866-69  in  Italy.  His  health  soon  ren- 
dered it  impossible  to  further  discharge  public 
duties,  and  he  resigned  his  post  in  1872,  retiring 
with  the  honorary  title  of  Emeritus  Professor  of 
Political  Economy.  Next  year  the  Dublin  Uni- 
versity conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  LL.  D. 

The  last  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  the 
collection  and  publication  of  papers  contributed 
to  various  reviews  and  magazines,  and  in  the 
preparation  of  his  great  work,  published  in  1874, 
"Some  Leading  Principles  of  Political  Economy 
Newly  Expounded,"  "beyond  doubt  a  worthy 
successor  to  the  great  treatises  of  Smith,  Mal- 
thus,  Ricardo  and  Mill."  A  careful  summing  up 
of  the  results  of  these  contributions  will  be 
found  in  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  showing 
the  advances  in  economic  doctrine  established 
by  him,  in  (1)  his  exposition  of  the  province  and 
method  of  practical  economy;  (2)  his  analysis  of 
cost  of  production  in  its  relation  to  value;  (3) 
his  exposition  of  the  natural  or  social  limit  to 
free  competition,  and  of  its  bearing  on  the  theory 
of  value;  (4)  his  defense  of  the  wages  fund  doc- 
trine. Professor  Cairnes  died  in  London,  July 
8,  1875,  and  was  interred  at  Willesden. 

Edward  George  Ryan 

Edward  George  Ryan,  jurist,  was  born  at 
Newcastle  House,  County  Meath,  November  13, 
1810,  the  son  of  Edward  and  Abby  Keogh  Ryan. 
He  began  the  study  of  law  in  Ireland,  but  before 
completing  his  course  he  came  to  the  United 
States,  in  1830,  and  resumed  his  studies  in  New 
York  City,  where  he  supported  himself  by  teach- 


84  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

ing  until  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  in  1836. 
He  then  removed  to  Chicago,  began  the  practice 
of  his  profession,  and  from  1839  to  1841  edited 
a  paper  called  the  Tribune,  the  commencement 
of  the  present  Chicago  paper  of  that  name. 

In  1842  Ryan  located  at  Racine,  Wis.,  where 
he  remained  until  1848,  when  he  removed  to 
Milwaukee.  He  was  prosecuting  attorney  at 
Chicago,  1840-41 ;  represented  Racine  County  at 
the  first  Wisconsin  State  Constitutional  Con- 
vention of  1846,  was  a  delegate  to  the  Demo- 
cratic National  Convention  of  1848,  and  as  chair- 
man of  a  committee  of  the  Democratic  State 
Convention,  in  1862,  drew  up  an  address  to  the 
people  of  his  adopted  state  which  became  known 
as  the  "Ryan  Address." 

He  was  one  of  the  most  powerful  advocates 
at  the  Wisconsin  bar,  being  engaged  in  many 
noted  legal  battles,  among  which  was  the  im- 
peachment trial  of  Judge  Levi  Hubbell,  before 
the  State  Senate,  in  1853.  He  was  city  attor- 
ney of  Milwaukee  from  1870  until  1872,  and  in 
June  1874,  upon  the  resignation  of  Luther  S. 
Dixon,  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Taylor 
chief  justice  of  the  State  Supreme  Court,  to  fill 
the  vacancy,  an  office  which  he  held  until  his 
death.  In  1842  he  married  a  daughter  of  Cap- 
tain Hugh  Graham.  Ryan  died  at  Milwaukee, 
Wis.,  October  19,  1880. 

Robert  Emmet 

Robert  Emmet,  lawyer,  eldest  son  of 
Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  the  distinguished  Irish 
patriot,  was  born  in  Dublin,  September  8,  1792. 
He  was  with  his  father  at  Fort  George  during 
the  latter's  imprisonment,  and  there  received  his 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  85 

early  education  through  teachings  from  the 
state  prisoners.  After  his  father's  release  he  re- 
sided with  his  parents  for  some  time  in  France 
and  subsequently  came  with  them  to  America, 
at  the  age  of  thirteen.  After  graduating  at  Co- 
lumbia College,  New  York,  in  1810,  he  studied 
law,  was  admitted  to  practice,  and  rose  to  emi- 
nence at  the  New  York  bar.  He  served  one  term 
in  the  State  Legislature  in  1828;  was  corpora- 
tion counsel  in  1836,  Register  of  the  Court  of 
Chancery  for  a  long  period,  and  from  November, 
1852,  to  December,  1854,  was  a  judge  of  the  New 
York  State  Superior  Court.  In  1848  Emmet 
was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  association  formed 
in  New  York  to  aid  the  proposed  insurrection  in 
Ireland,  and  after  the  leaders  of  the  uprising  had 
been  sentenced  to  penal  servitude,  a  ship  was 
chartered  by  Mr.  Emmet  and  others  of  a  com- 
mittee and  sent  to  Van  Diemen's  Land,  in  which 
John  Mitchell,  Thomas  Francis  Meagher  and 
others  made  their  escape  in  May,  1852.  He  was 
a  Democrat  up  to  the  time  the  parties  became 
divided  on  the  question  of  slavery,  and  subse- 
quently became  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Re- 
publican party  in  the  state  of  New  York.  He 
presided  at  the  convention,  in  1856,  when  John 
C.  Fremont  was  made  the  Republican  presiden- 
tial nominee.  Mr.  Emmet  married  Rosina  Hub- 
ley,  daughter  of  Adam  Hubley,  an  officer  in  the 
American  army  during  the  revolutionary  war. 
She  died  June  1,  1849.  Emmet  died  at  New  Ro- 
chelle,  N.  Y.,  February  15,  1873.  He  was  the 
father  of  eight  children. 

Thomas  Addis  Emmet 

Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  brother  of  Robert, 
was  born  in  Dublin,  May  29,  1797,  and  remained 


86  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

in  Ireland  until  his  father  had  settled  in  New 
York,  when  he  joined  him.  He  was  educated  at 
Columbia  College,  New  York,  afterwards 
studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  practice,  and 
for  many  years  held  the  position  of  master  in 
chancery.  March  4,  1823,  he  married  Anna 
Riker  Tom,  stepdaughter  of  William  J.  Mac- 
Nevin,  by  whom  he  had  ten  children.  Emmet 
died  August  12,  1863.  His  son.  Temple  Emmet, 
died  in  August,  1862,  from  exposure,  while  serv- 
ing in  the  Irish  brigade  under  Thomas  Francis 
Meagher.  Another  son,  Richard  R.  Emmet,  was 
also  with  the  Irish  brigade,  and  died  of  fever  at 
Fredericksburg,  Va.,  in  February,  1863. 

Richard  Busteed 

Richard  Busteed,  jurist,  was  born  in  Cavan, 
February  16,  1822.  His  father  was  a  colonel  in 
the  British  army,  subsequently  a  barrister  at 
Dublin,  and  at  one  time  chief  secretary  of  the 
Island  of  St.  Lucia,  which  office  he  lost  through 
his  efforts  in  behalf  of  emancipation.  Returning 
to  Ireland,  he  emigrated  to  Canada,  where  he 
started  a  paper  called  the  True  Patriot.  Richard 
learned  the  compositor's  trade  in  his  father's 
office. 

After  coming  to  the  United  States  he  con- 
tinued to  work  at  his  trade  for  some  time.  Sub- 
sequently he  studied  law,  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1846,  and  rose  rapidly  in  his  profession. 
In  1856  he  was  elected  corporation  counsel  of 
New  York  City.  He  supported  Douglas  for 
president  in  1860,  but  when  war  had  been  de- 
clared he  joined  the  Union  army,  was  appointed 
brigadier-general  of  volunteers,  and  commanded 
a  brigade  at  Yorktown,  Va. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  87 

His  former  attitude  on  the  slavery  question, 
however,  caused  strong  opposition  to  his  ap- 
pointment, and  he  sent  his  resignation  to  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  in  1863.  The  same  year  he  was 
appointed  United  States  District  Judge  of  Ala- 
bama and  the  next  year  his  appointment  was 
unanimously  confirmed  by  the  Senate.  The  test- 
oath  enjoined  by  Congress,  as  exercised  by  at- 
torneys practicing  before  the  United  States 
courts,  he  decided  was  unconstitutional — a  deci- 
sion that  was  afterwards  affirmed  by  the  Su- 
preme Court,  Judge  Busteed  resigned  his  posi- 
tion in  1874  and  resumed  the  practice  of  law  in 
New  York  City,  where  he  died,  September  14, 
1898. 

William  Joyce  Sewell 

William  Joyce  Sewell,  soldier  and  United 
States  Senator,  was  born  at  Castlebar,  County 
Mayo,  December  6,  1835,  and  came  to  this  coun- 
try in  1851,  having  been  left  an  orphan  at  an 
early  age.  After  making  several  voyages  in  the 
merchant  marine  service  to  Australia  and  Asia, 
he  settled  in  Chicago,  HI.,  and  later  at  Camden, 
N.  J.  At  the  opening  of  the  civil  war  he  entered 
the  army  as  captain  in  the  5th  New  Jersey  regi- 
ment. He  served  in  many  battles  with  the  army 
of  the  Potomac;  was  severely  wounded  at 
Chancellorsville,  where  he  commanded  a  brigade, 
and  was  again  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Gettys- 
burg. At  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  mustered 
out  of  the  service  as  brigadier-general  of  volun- 
teers, and  March  13,  1865,  was  brevetted  major- 
general. 

From  1872  until  1881  he  was  a  member  of 
the  New  Jersey  Senate,  of  which  he  was  presi- 
dent, in  1876,  1879  and  1880.     Hi  1881,  he  was 


88  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  of  which 
body  he  was  a  member  for  twenty  years  and 
until  his  death,  serving  at  different  times  on  the 
military  affairs,  appropriations,  and  other  com- 
mittees. 

Sewell  was  National  Commisioner  of  New 
Jersey  to  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  in 
1893,  and  headed  the  New  Jersey  delegation  in 
every  Republican  national  convention  from  1876 
until  1900.  Shortly  after  the  civil  war  he  be- 
came connected  with  the  Pennsylvania  railroad, 
and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  an  officer  or 
director  in  many  commercial,  steamship  and  rail- 
road companies.  Sewell  was  married  twice,  the 
second  time  to  Helen  L.  Heyl.  He  died  at  Cam- 
den, N.  J.,  December  27,  1901,  being  survived 
by  two  sons  and  three  daughters.  His  sons, 
Robert  and  William  Joyce  Sewell,  were  officers 
in  the  Spanish- American  war. 

Robert  Adrain 

Robert  Adrain,  mathematician,  was  born  at 
Carrickfergus,  September  30,  1775.  He  com- 
manded a  company  of  patriots  in  the  rebellion  of 
1798,  and  was  dangerously  wounded,  but  man- 
aged to  escape  to  America.  He  taught  school 
successively  at  Princeton,  N.  J.,  and  at  York 
and  Reading,  Pa.  He  was  professor  of  mathe- 
matics and  natural  philosophv  at  Rutgers  Col- 
lege from  1810  to  1813,  then' until  1825  at  Co- 
lumbia College,  and  at  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania from  1827  to  1834.  He  was  a  member 
of  many  scientific  bodies  in  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica. He  edited  the  "Mathematical  Diary"  from 
1825  till  1828,  prepared  an  edition  of  "Hutton's 
Mathematics,"    and    contributed    to   the   maga- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  89 

zines.  He  died  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  August 
10,  1843. 

His  mathematical  powers  and  knowledge 
of  the  work  of  French  geometers  were  displayed 
in  two  papers  communicated  to  the  American 
Philosophical  Society  in  1817  entitled  "Investi- 
gation of  the  Figure  of  the  Earth  and  of  the 
Gravity  in  Different  Latitudes,"  and  "Research 
Concerning  the  Mean  Diameter  of  the  Earth." 

His  son,  Garnett  B.  Adrain,  was  admitted 
to  the  New  Jersey  bar  and  represented  that  state 
in  Congress  from  1856  to  1858.  He  died  at  New 
Brunswick,  N.  J.,  August  17,  1878.  His  grand- 
son, Robert  Adrain,  also  became  an  eminent 
lawyer  and  publicist  of  New  Jersey. 

James  E.  Boyd 

James  E.  Boyd,  governor,  was  born  in 
County  Tyrone,  September  9,  1834,  the  son  of 
Joseph  and  Margaret  Boyd.  He  came  to  the 
United  States  with  his  parents  in  1844,  and  set- 
tled first  at  Belmont  and  later  at  Zanesville, 
Ohio.  In  1856  James  went  to  Nebraska  with 
his  brother,  where  he  became  interested  in  stock- 
raising,  the  packing  business,  and  in  the  grad- 
ing of  the  Union  Pacific  railroad.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  first  state  legislature  in  1866, 
when  Nebraska  was  admitted  into  the  Union, 
and  also  a  member  of  the  state  constitutional 
conventions  of  1871  and  1875. 

Boyd  was  elected  mayor  of  Omaha  in  1881 
and  again  in  1885.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the 
Democratic  National  Conventions  of  1884,  1888 
and  1892.  In  1890  he  was  elected  governor  of 
Nebraska  by  the  Democratic  party,  but  was  re- 
moved from  office  in  May,  1891,  it  being  alleged 


90  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

his  father  had  never  properly  completed  his  nat- 
uralization, and  therefore  his  son  was  an  alien. 
He  was,  however,  declared  a  citizen  by  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court  and  reinstated  as 
governor  February  8,  1892,  and  served  until  Jan- 
uary 1,  1893.  The  latter  part  of  his  life  was  de- 
voted to  the  grain  commission  business.  Boyd 
was  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade 
and  of  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange.  He  died 
in  1906. 

John  G.  Warwick 

John  G.  Warwick,  congressman,  was  born 
in  County  Tyrone,  December  23,  1830.  He 
cam.e  to  America  in  1850  and  settled  in  Stark 
County,  Ohio,  where  for  several  years  he  was 
employed  as  a  dry  goods  clerk.  He  finally  en- 
tered into  business  for  himself,  and  for  many 
years  was  identified  with  coal  mining  and  manu- 
facturing enterprises,  from  which  he  amassed  a 
comfortable  fortune.  In  1883  he  was  elected 
lieutenant-governor  of  Ohio  on  the  Democratic 
ticket;  and  in  1890  defeated  William  McKinley 
(afterwards  President  of  the  United  States)  for 
Congress  in  the  Sixteenth  Ohio  district.  He  died 
at  Washington,  D.  C,  August  14,  1892.  A  wife 
and  one  son  survived  him. 

David  Wark 

David  Wark,  father  of  the  Canadian  Sen- 
ate, was  born  near  Londonderry,  February  19, 
1804.  He  emigrated  to  New  Brunswick  in  1825 
and  was  for  many  years  engaged  in  mercantile 
pursuits,  in  which  he  acquired  a  comfortable  for- 
tune.   In  1843  he  was  elected  from  Kent  County 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  91 

to  the  New  Brunswick  Assembly,  and  in  1851 
was  appointed  to  the  Legislative  Council,  where 
he  remained  until  the  confederation  of  British 
North  America,  in  1867.  In  that  year  he  was 
made  a  Dominion  Senator,  a  life  position.  He 
was  a  Liberal  in  politics,  and  a  Presbyterian  in 
religion. 

Wark  published  *'The  Future  of  Canada 
and  Its  Relation  to  the  British  Empire,"  1894. 
He  also  wrote  in  behalf  of  Imperial  Federation, 
and  Reciprocity  of  Trade  between  Canada  and 
the  United  States.  In  1897  he  received  the  hon- 
orary degree  of  LL.  D.  from  New  Brunswick 
University.  He  married,  in  1860,  Anne  E. 
Burpee,  of  Sunbury,  N.  B.  Wark  died  at  Fred- 
ericton,  N.  B.,  August  20,  1905,  at  the  remark- 
able age  of  101  years  and  6  months,  being,  it  is 
said,  the  oldest  member  of  any  legislative  body 
in  the  world  at  the  time  of  his  decease. 

Arthur  Dobbs 

Arthur  Dobbs,  colonial  governor  of  North 
Carolina,  was  born  in  Ireland,  April  2,  1689.  He 
was  the  son  of  Richard  Dobbs  of  Castletown, 
who  was  high  sheriff  of  Antrim  in  1694.  He  suc- 
ceeded to  the  family  property  on  the  death  of  his 
father,  in  1711,  and  in  1727  was  returned  to  the 
Irish  Parliament  for  Carrickfergus.  In  1730,  he 
was  appointed  engineer-in-chief  and  surveyor- 
general  in  Ireland  by  Sir  Robert  Walpole. 

Dobbs  took  an  active  part  in  promoting  the 
search  for  a  northwest  passage  to  India,  China 
and  Japan.  He  laid  the  matter  before  Admiral 
Wager  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Event- 
ually the  admiralty  provided  two  small  vessels 
for  the  service,  which  left  England  in  May,  1741, 


92  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

under  the  command  of  Captain  Christopher 
Middleton.  They  wintered  at  Churchill  river,  in 
Hudson's  Bay,  and  the  next  year  penetrated  far- 
ther north  than  any  of  their  predecessors.  At 
Repulse  Bay  the  expedition  was  stopped  by  ice, 
and  they  returned  home  in  September,  1742. 

In  1754  Dobbs  was  appointed  governor  of 
North  Carolina.  He  adopted  measures  to  con- 
ciliate the  Indian  tribes,  and  commissioned 
Colonel  Hugh  Waddell  to  treat  with  the  Cata- 
wabs  and  Cherokees.  He  was  one  of  the  co- 
lonial governors  who  attended  the  council  at 
Hampton,  Va.,  summoned  by  General  Braddock 
in  April,  1755.  Superior  courts  of  justice  were 
established  in  the  districts  of  the  colony,  to  be 
held  semi-annually,  by  the  chief  justice  and 
one  associate.  His  administration  of  ten  years, 
however,  was  a  continual  contest  between  him- 
self and  the  legislature,  arising  from  his  energy 
in  behalf  of  the  royal  prerogative,  and  the  stub- 
born resistance  on  the  part  of  the  colonists  when 
he  endeavored  to  introduce  unpopular  acts.  He 
died  at  his  seat  on  Town  Creek,  N.  C,  March 
28,  1765.  Dobbs  was  the  author  of  "An  Essay 
on  the  Trade  and  Improvement  of  Ireland," 
Dublin,  1729;  "Captain  Middleton's  Defense," 
1744,  and  "An  Account  of  the  Countries  Adjoin- 
ing Hudson's  Bay,"  London,  1748. 

John  Beresford 

John  Beresford,  statesman,  was  born  in  Dub- 
lin, March  14,  1738.  He  was  the  second  son  of 
Marcus,  Earl  of  Tyrone,  whose  ancestors  first 
settled  in  Ireland  in  1574.  His  mother  was  Bar- 
roness  Le  Poer,  heiress  and  representative  of  a 
long  line  of  barons,  descending  in  direct  male 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  93 

succession  from  Roger  Le  Poer,  a  knight  who 
accompanied  Strongbow  to  Ireland. 

From  Kilkenny  School,  John  Beresford  pro- 
ceeded to  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  where  he  grad- 
uated A.  B.  in  1757.  He  then  entered  at  the  Mid- 
dle Temple,  studied  law  for  nearly  three  years, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1760.  In  April, 
1761,  he  was  elected  member  of  the  Irish  Parlia- 
ment for  County  Waterford,  which  constituency 
he  continued  to  represent  uninterruptedly  till 
his  death, — for  forty-four  years.  He  applied 
himself  with  great  assiduity  to  the  discharge 
of  his  parliamentary  duties,  and  soon  became  a 
power  in  the  House.  In  1768  he  was  sworn 
on  the  Privy  Council,  and  in  1770  was  appointed 
a  Commissioner  of  Revenue.  Eventually  he  suc- 
ceeded to  the  post  of  First  Commissioner,  and 
it  was  under  his  administration,  and  much  at 
his  instance,  that  the  new  Custom  House  in 
Dublin  was  built,  between  1781  and  1791.  It 
was  also  largely  through  his  exertions  that  the 
widening  and  extending  of  the  Dublin  quays, 
and  the  opening  up  of  Sackville  and  other  streets, 
were  accomplished. 

His  political  position  was  strengthened  in 
the  year  1774  by  his  taking  as  his  second  wife 
Barbara  Montgomery,  a  celebrated  beauty,  sis- 
ter of  Lady  Mountjoy  and  of  the  Marchioness 
of  Townshend.  During  the  administrations  of 
the  Duke  of  Portland  and  Lord  Temple  (1782 
to  1783)  he  confined  himself  to  routine  duties, 
but  on  the  arrival  of  the  Duke  of  Rutland,  to 
whom  Pitt  had  entrusted  the  government  of  Ire- 
land, he  threw  his  whole  energies  into  political 
affairs. 

Holding  opinions  diametrically  opposed  to 
Grattan  and  the  national  party  on  almost  all 


94  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

questions,  he  strenuously  supported  Orde's  Trade 
Propositions,  and  sided  with  Pitt  in  the  matter 
of  the  Regency.  The  almost  overwhelming 
power  and  influence  which  the  Beresfords  at- 
tained in  the  government  of  Ireland  was  sig- 
nally put  to  the  test  in  1795,  when  Lord  P'itz- 
william  went  over  to  Ireland,  January  4th,  as 
Lord-Lieutenant,  to  inaugurate  a  policy  of  con- 
cession both  on  religious  and  political  questions. 
He  took  Grattan  and  the  leaders  of  the  liberal 
party  into  his  councils,  and  Beresford  was  imme- 
diately dismissed  from  his  various  offices,  al- 
though still  left  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  salary. 

Beresford  immediately  proceeded  to  Lon- 
don, where  his  influence  with  the  Ministry  was 
so  great  that  within  a  few  weeks  Lord  Fitz- 
william  was  recalled.  The  illness  of  Mrs.  Beres- 
ford, who  expired  near  London,  May  19th,  de- 
ferred until  June  28th  a  hostile  meeting  with 
Lord  Fitzwilliam,  provoked  by  strictures  made 
by  the  latter  in  letters  to  Lord  Carlisle.  The 
duel  was  interrupted  by  a  peace  officer.  Next 
month  Beresford  returned  to  Dublin,  and  was 
restored  to  all  his  offices. 

In  the  events  that  soon  followed, — the  in- 
surrection and  the  Union, — he  sided  with  Lord 
Castlereagh  and  Clare;  and  few  contributed 
more  than  he  to  the  successful  carrying  through 
of  the  Union,  or  had  more  to  do  with  the  fiscal 
arrangements  consequent  thereupon.  It  was  a 
bitter  mortification  to  him  that  his  son,  John  C. 
Beresford,  threw  up  a  good  government  appoint- 
ment and  voted  against  the  measure.  Before 
many  years  were  over,  however, — in  November, 
1804, — in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  we  find  him  de- 
ploring many  of  the  results  of  the  change.  He 
entered  the  British  Parliament  for  Waterford. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  95 

In  1802  he  was,  at  his  own  request,  relieved 
from  official  duties,  and  the  three  remaining 
years  of  his  life  were  spent  between  his  London 
residence  and  Walworth,  his  seat  in  County  Lon- 
donderry. He  was  all  through  life  devoted  to 
gardening  and  agriculture.  He  died,  after  a 
short  illness,  on  November  5,  1805.  A  portion 
of  his  correspondence,  edited  by  a  grandson,  and 
published  in  two  volumes  in  1854,  contains  valu- 
able information  on  current  events,  and  remarks 
upon  public  characters. 

His  brother  became  Marquis  of  Waterford 
in  1789,  and  his  grand-nephew,  the  third  Mar- 
quis, killed  out  hunting  in  1859,  was  a  nobleman 
of  great  sporting  notoriety.  The  influence  of  the 
Beresfords  is  further  shown  by  the  fact  that 
among  his  descendants,  within  fifty  years  of  his 
decease,  may  be  counted  an  archbishop,  a  bishop, 
a  governor  of  a  colony,  a  colonial  secretary,  an 
M.  P.,  a  colonel,  a  lieutenant-colonel,  a  knight 
of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  a  privy-councilor,  and 
several  officers  of  rank;  while  he  had  one  brother 
an  earl,  another  an  archbishop  and  a  baron;  one 
nephew  an  archbishop  and  primate,  and  another 
a  lieutenant-general. 

Richard  Southwell  Bourke 

Richard  Southwell  Bourke,  statesman,  Earl 
of  Mayo,  was  born  in  Dublin,  February  21,  1822. 
The  Bourkes  of  the  County  of  Kildare,  whom  he 
represented,  were  connected  by  ties  of  family 
and  property  with  the  county  since  the  war  of 
1641-52,  when  their  ancestor,  having  held  a  cap- 
taincy of  horse  under  the  Marquis  of  Ormond, 
settled  at  Kill.  Bourke  was  educated  at  Trinity 
College,  taking  his   degree  of  B.   A.   in    1844; 


96  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

LL.  D.  was  subsequently  conferred  upon  him. 
He  traveled  in  Russia  in  1845,  and  published  his 
experiences  in  a  work  entitled  "St.  Petersburg 
and  Moscow." 

In  1849,  on  the  death  of  his  uncle,  and  his 
father  becoming  Earl  of  Mayo,  the  honorary  title 
of  Lord  Naas  devolved  upon  himself.  During 
more  than  twenty  years  he  sat  in  parliament, — 
for  Kildare  from  1847  to  1852;  Coleraine,  1851 
to  1857;  and  Cockermouth,  1857  to  1867, — when, 
upon  the  death  of  his  father,  August  12,  he  be- 
came Earl  of  Mayo. 

He  was  an  earnest  and  consistent  Conserva- 
tive, and  as  such  held  the  post  of  Chief  Secre- 
tary for  Ireland  in  each  of  the  three  Derby  ad- 
ministrations,— March  to  December,  1852;  Feb- 
ruary, 1858,  to  June,  1859;  June,  1866  to  1868. 
In  1868  he  was  appointed  Governor-General  of 
India,  and  Knight  of  St.  Patrick. 

He  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  able  admin- 
istrators that  ever  ruled  India.  In  the  prime  of 
middle  life,  and  possessed  of  vigorous  health, 
he  evinced  great  activity  of  body  as  well  as  mind, 
and  was  constantly  on  the  alert  visiting  the  por- 
tions of  his  viceroyalty  that  required  inspection. 
In  1872  he  went  to  the  penal  settlement  at  the 
Andaman  Islands,  concerning  which  there  had 
been  reports  of  abuses  and  maladministration. 
Returning  to  embark  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening 
of  February  8,  he  was  assassinated  by  a  convict 
named  Shere  Ali,  who  declared  that  "he  had 
no  accomplices,  that  it  was  his  fate,  and  that  he 
had  committed  the  act  by  the  order  of  God." 
He  had  long  threatened  that  he  would  take  the 
life  of  some  distinguished  European  in  revenge 
for  having  been  imprisoned  for  murdering  a  man 
in  a  "blood-feud."    Bourke  was  only  able  to  tot- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  97 

ter  against  a  truck,  and  say  faintly  to  his  secre- 
tary, "They've  hit  me,  Burne,"  before  he  expired. 
The  assassin  was  executed  at  Calcutta.  Lord 
Mayo's  remains  were  brought  back  to  Ireland, 
were  received  in  military  state  in  Dublin,  and 
deposited  in  the  family  mausoleum  near  Naas. 

A  man  of  genial  manners,  he  was  very  pop- 
ular among  his  associates.  He  was  an  enthusi- 
astic sportsman,  as  well  in  Ireland  as  in  the 
fiercer  and  more  dangerous  sports  of  India.  (See 
W.  W.  Hunter's  "Life  of  the  Earl  of  Mayo," 
London,  1875.) 

John  Hely-Hutchinson 

John  Hely-Hutchinson,  lawyer  and  Provost 
of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  son  of  Francis  Hely 
of  Gortore,  was  born  in  Ireland  in  1724.  On 
his  marriage  to  an  heiress  named  Hutchin- 
son in  1751  he  assumed  the  name  of  Hely-Hutch- 
inson. He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1748, 
elected  to  parliament  for  Lanesborough  in  1759, 
and  for  Cork  in  1761;  appointed  Prime-Sergeant 
in  1762,  Provost  of  Trinity  College  in  1774,  Sec- 
retary of  State  for  Ireland,  and  Keeper  of  the 
Privy  Seal  in  1777.  In  1783  he  obtained  a  peer- 
age for  his  wife  as  Baroness  of  Donoughmore. 

He  was  at  one  and  the  same  time  Secretary 
of  State,  Major  of  Horse,  Provost  of  Trinity  Col- 
lege, and  Searcher,  Packer,  and  Gauger  of  the 
Port  of  Strangford.  His  appointment  as  pro- 
vost created  some  turmoil.  As  a  layman  he  was 
considered  unsuitable  for  the  post,  and  became 
involved  in  constant  disputes  with  the  Fellows 
and  students.  Dr.  Duigenan  wrote  a  book  in 
opposition  to  his  appointment;  a  series  of  satir- 
ical pamphlets  appeared  against  him;    and  he 


98  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

was  also  involved  in  several  duels.  He  died  at 
Buxton,  September  4,  1794. 

He  wrote  an  excellent  treatise  on  the  "Com- 
mercial Restraints  of  Ireland."  In  "Grattan's 
Life"  it  is  stated  that  he  supported  nearly  every 
good  measure, — the  Claim  of  Right,  free  trade. 
Catholic  emancipation  and  Reform.  Taylor,  in 
his  ''History  of  the  University  of  Dublin,"  while 
admitting  that  his  appointment  to  the  provost- 
ship  was  ill-advised,  considers  that  his  adminis- 
tration conferred  great  benefits  on  the  university. 

One  of  his  sons  became  an  earl,  another  a 
baron,  and  others  of  his  numerous  descendants 
were  distinguished  in  the  senate,  the  Church, 
and  the  army.  His  eldest  son,  Richard,  created 
Earl  of  Donoughmore,  was  the  untiring  advo- 
cate of  Catholic  emancipation.  At  his  death,  in 
1825,  the  title  devolved  upon  his  brother  John, 
a  distinguished  general,  who  succeeded  Aber- 
crombie  in  command  of  the  British  army  in 
Egypt.  He  sat  in  the  Irish  Parliament  in  1800, 
voted  for  the  Union,  and  was  created  Baron 
Hutchinson,  with  a  pension  of  £2,000  per 
annum.  He  died  in  1832.  Richard  W.  J.  Hely- 
Hutchinson,  the  present  representative  of  the 
family,  is  the  sixth  Earl  of  Donoughmore. 

Hugh  McCalmont  Cairns 

Hugh  McCalmont  Cairns,  Lord  Chancellor, 
first  Earl  of  Cairns,  was  born  in  County  Down 
in  December,  1819.  He  was  educated  at  Belfast 
Academy  and  afterwards  at  Trinity  College, 
Dublin.  He  received  the  degree  of  B.  A.  in  1838 
and  went  to  London  to  prepare  for  the  bar.  He 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  Middle  Temple 
in  January,    1844,   and   shortly  afterwards   mi- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  99 

grated  to  Lincoln's  Inn,  where  he  soon  gained 
an  extensive  practice.  In  July,  1852,  he  entered 
parliament  as  member  for  Belfast  and  continued 
to  represent  that  city  as  long  as  he  remained  at 
the  bar.  In  1856  he  was  made  a  O.  C.  and  a 
bencher  of  Lincoln's  Inn. 

In  February,  1858,  when  Lord  Derby  took 
office,  he  was  appointed  solicitor-general  and 
knighted,  enjoying  from  this  period  an  enormous 
practice.  When  the  Conservatives  returned  to 
power  in  1866  he  was  made  attorney-general  and 
the  same  year  a  lord  justice  of  appeal.  In  1867 
he  was  created  a  privy-councillor  and  Baron 
Cairns  of  Garmoyle,  County  Antrim.  He  now 
took  a  very  active  part  in  the  discussions  upon 
the  Reform  bill  and  made  no  less  than  twenty- 
four  speeches  on  that  bill  in  the  House  of  Lords. 
In  February,  1868,  upon  the  resignation  of  Lord 
Derby  and  the  accession  of  Benjamin  Disraeli  as 
Prime  Minister,  the  latter  appointed  Cairns  Lord 
Chancellor.  On  the  defeat  of  the  Conservatives 
at  the  general  election,  Cairns  resigned  with  Dis- 
raeli, and  after  Lord  Derby's  death,  in  1869,  led 
the  opposition  in  the  House  of  Lords.  His  resist- 
ance to  the  disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Angli- 
can Church  was  always  vigorous.  His  speech 
on  Gladstone's  Suspensory  bill  was  printed  and 
widely  circulated.  Shortly  after  this  he  resigned 
the  leadership  of  the  Conservative  party  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  but  again  resumed  it  in  1870. 

On  the  return  of  the  Conservatives  to  power 
in  1874,  Cairns  was  again  made  Lord  Chancellor. 
In  September,  1878,  he  was  created  Viscount 
Garmoyle  and  Earl  Cairns  in  the  peerage  of  the 
United  Kingdom;  but  after  the  Conservative 
defeat  and  his  resignation  in  1880,  he  took  no 
very  active  part  in  public  life.    His  health,  never 


loo  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

strong,  had  long  been  failing,  and  he  spent  much 
of  his  time  on  the  Riviera,  having  erected  a  house 
at  Bournemouth,  where  he  died  April  2,  1885,  of 
congestion  of  the  lungs.  He  received  the  degree 
of  LL.  D.  from  Cambridge  in  1862,  D.  C.  L.  from 
Oxford  in  1863,  and  LL.  D.  from  Dublin  in  1867. 
He  married,  in  1856,  Mary  Harriet  MacNeile 
of  Parkmount,  County  Antrim,  by  w^hom  he  had 
five  sons  and  two  daughters.  His  second  son, 
Arthur  W.  Cairns,  succeeded  to  the  peerage. 
Cairns  was  considered  by  many  the  greatest  law- 
yer of  his  time;  his  especial  characteristic  was 
lucidity.  As  a  speaker  he  was  generally  cold 
and  unimpassioned,  though  in  public  addresses 
there  were  traces  of  repressed  fire.  His  grasp 
of  political  subjects  was  so  sure  and  his  language 
so  clear  and  forcible  that  the  Conservative  party 
wavered  between  selecting  him  or  Lord  Salis- 
bury or  Sir  Stafford  Northcote  for  its  leader. 

William  McArthur 

Sir  William  McArthur,  Lord  Mayor  of  Lon- 
don, was  born  at  Malin,  County  Donegal,  July 
6,  1809.  He  received  his  early  education  at  a 
school  in  his  native  county,  where  Isaac  Butt  was 
a  fellow  pupil.  In  1821  he  was  apprenticed  to 
a  woolen  draper  at  Enniskillen.  In  1825  he  re- 
moved to  Lurgan  and  was  engaged  in  mercantile 
pursuits  until  1831,  when  he  formed  a  partner- 
ship in  the  woolen  draper  business  at  London- 
derry. In  1835  this  partnership  was  dissolved 
and  McArthur  continued  the  business  alone.  In 
1841  his  brother  went  to  Australia  and  opened 
a  branch  of  the  concern  at  Sydney.  After  the 
discovery  of  gold  the  business  rapidly  increased; 
other  branch  houses  were  opened  in  Australia, 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  loi 

the  headquarters  of  the  firm  transferred  to  Lon- 
don, and  the  McArthurs  became  wealthy. 

In  1857  WilHam  McArthur  settled  in  Lon- 
don, and  was  member  of  parliament  for  Lam- 
beth, 1868-85;  chosen  sheriff  of  London,  June 
24,  1867;  alderman,  September  3,  1872,  and  Lord 
Mayor  of  London,  September  29,  1880.  He  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  London  Chamber  of 
Commerce  in  1881.  In  the  House  of  Commons 
he  took  an  active  interest  in  colonial,  educational, 
and  Irish  affairs.  November  17,  1882,  he  was 
made  K.  C.  M.  G. 

McArthur  married  Marianne  McElwaine, 
September  5,  1843.  He  died  at  London,  Novem- 
ber 16,  1887,  and  was  interred  in  Norwood  Ceme- 
tery. He  left  about  £150,000  to  charitable  insti- 
tutions, chiefly  connected  with  the  Methodist 
Church,  to  which  he  had  belonged. 

Frederick  William  Burton 

Sir  Frederick  William  Burton,  painter  in 
water-colors  and  director  of  the  National  Por- 
trait Gallery,  was  born  at  Corofin  House,  County 
Clare,  April  8,  1816.  He  was  the  son  of  Frederick 
and  Hannah  Mallet  Burton.  The  family  re- 
moved to  Dublin  in  1826,  where  young  Burton 
received  his  elementary  instruction  in  drawing 
under  the  brothers  Brocas.  His  progress  in  art 
was  so  rapid  that  in  1837,  when  only  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  he  was  elected  an  associate  of  the 
Royal  Hibernian  Academy,  of  which  he  became 
a  full  member  in  1839,  acquiring  distinction  as  a 
painter  of  miniatures  and  water-color  portraits. 

In  1840  he  exhibited  his  picture,  "The  Blind 
Girl  at  the  Holy  Well,"  and  in  the  following 
year,  **The  Arran  Fisherman's  Drowned  Child." 


102  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

In  1842  he  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  in 
London  his  famous  painting,  "A  Connaught  Toi- 
let," which  was  afterwards  burned,  with  a  num- 
ber of  other  pictures,  at  an  exhibition  in  Lon- 
don. Burton  spent  seven  years  on  the  continent, 
dating  from  1851,  establishing  his  headquarters 
at  Munich,  where  he  began  the  thorough  study 
of  German  masters.  He  also  found  numerous 
subjects  in  his  wanderings  through  the  forests 
of  Franconia,  Nuremberg,  and  Bamberg,  and 
completed  several  drawings  which  he  brought 
with  him  to  London  on  his  annual  visits. 

In  1855  he  was  admitted  an  associate  of  the 
Royal  Water-Color  Society  and  to  full  member- 
ship in  1856.  In  1874  Burton  was  appointed 
director  of  the  National  Gallery  in  London.  Dur- 
ing his  administration  of  twenty  years  some  of 
the  most  valuable  paintings  were  added  to  the 
British  collection,  there  being  some  450  pictures 
of  foreign  artists  secured  within  that  period. 

From  the  time  of  his  appointment  as  director 
of  the  National  Gallery,  Burton  laid  aside  the 
brush  and  did  not  even  complete  work  that  was 
well  advanced  and  would  have,  if  completed, 
added  much  to  his  reputation  as  an  artist.  On 
his  retirement  in  1894  he  was  knighted,  and  in 
1896  the  degree  of  LL.  D.  was  conferred  on  him 
by  Trinity  College,  Dublin. 

Burton  was  a  clever  writer  and  deeply  inter- 
ested in  antiquarian  research,  being  long  a  mem- 
ber of  the  London  Society  of  Antiquarians.  A 
portrait  by  him  of  George  Eliot  is  in  the  National 
Portrait  Gallery.  Among  his  other  more  impor- 
tant pictures  are:  "Peasantry  of  Franconia  Wait- 
ing for  Confession,"  "The  Widow  of  Wohlin," 
and  "The  Meeting  of  the  Turret  Stairs."  Burton 
died  unmarried  at  Kensington,  England,  March 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  103 

16,  1900,  and  was  interred  in  Mount  Jerome  Cem- 
etery, Dublin. 

Martin  Archer  Shee 

Sir  Martin  Archer  Shee,  author,  portrait 
painter  and  president  of  the  Royal  Academy,  was 
born  in  Dublin,  December  20,  1769.  His  mother 
died  a  few  months  after  his  birth.  His  father 
becoming  blind,  and  in  consequence  reduced  in 
circumstances,  was  compelled  to  retire  to  a  cot- 
tage near  the  Dargle,  where  many  of  young 
Shee's  early  years  were  spent.  He  evinced  a 
taste  for  drawing,  was  admitted  to  the  schools  of 
the  Royal  Dublin  Society,  and  shortly  was  en- 
abled to  support  himself  in  Dublin  by  painting 
portraits. 

In  1788,  after  his  father's  death,  he  removed 
to  London,  where  he  studied  with  the  utmost 
diligence,  Edmund  Burke's  personal  introduction 
to  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  procuring  for  him  ad- 
mission to  the  schools  of  the  Royal  Academy. 
His  first  picture  was  exhibited  in  1789.  In  1798 
he  was  elected  an  associate  and  in  1800  a  mem- 
ber of  the  academy.  His  reputation  as  a  por- 
trait painter  soon  became  widely  extended. 

On  the  death  of  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  in 
1830,  he  was  elected  president  of  the  Royal  Acad- 
emy, and  was  knighted  the  same  year.  He  was 
also  elected  a  fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  and 
other  honors  were  showered  upon  him  to  which, 
at  that  time.  Catholics  in  England  were  little 
accustomed. 

Shee  wTote  several  poetical  pieces,  and  two 
novels,  "Harry  Calverley"  and  "Old  Court,"  in 
which  were  embodied  many  reminiscences  of  the 
neighborhood  of  Bray.    He  was  instrumental  in 


104  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

procuring  the  charter  for  the  Royal  Hibernian 
Academy.  In  1845,  when  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
six,  he  resigned  as  president  at  the  Royal  Acad- 
emy; but  a  unanimous  address  was  presented 
to  him  by  the  academicians  and  associates  to  con- 
tinue in  office,  which  he  felt  unable  to  refuse. 
He  continued,  therefore,  to  hold  the  office  until 
his  death,  at  Brighton,  August  19,  1850.  A  civil 
list  pension  of  £200  a  year  was  conferred  upon 
him  shortly  before  his  death. 

Two  of  his  paintings,  "The  Infant  Bacchus" 
and  a  portrait  of  Morton,  the  dramatist,  are  in 
the  National  Gallery,  London.  He  married,  De- 
cember 19,  1796,  Mary  Power  of  Youghal,  by 
whom  he  left  three  sons  and  three  daughters. 
His  "Life,"  by  his  son,  was  issued  in  two  vol- 
umes, London,  1860. 

Peter  Paul  Duggan 

Peter  Paul  Duggan,  artist,  was  born  in  Ire- 
land about  1810,  and  in  early  life  came  to  the 
United  States,  devoting  his  time  to  the  study  of 
crayon  drawing,  but  occasionally  painting  in 
oils.  His  portraits  were  "delicate  and  truthful." 
He  subsequently  became  professor  of  drawing 
in  the  New  York  Free  Academy,  but  on  account 
of  poor  health  was  compelled  to  resign  his  posi- 
tion. He  went  to  London  and  later  to  Paris, 
where  he  died  October  15,  1861. 

George  Barret 

George  Barret,  landscape  painter,  was  born 
in  Dublin,  about  1728.  He  became  a  teacher  of 
drawing  in  his  native  town,  and  gaining  the  at- 
tention of  Edmund  Burke,  upon  whose  recom- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  105 

mendation  he  was  induced  to  study  and  design 
the  scenery  around  DubHn,  and  shortly  after- 
wards received  the  prize  offered  by  the  DubHn 
Academy  for  the  best  landscape  painting.  He 
removed  to  London  in  1762;  received  £1,500 
for  three  pictures  from  Lord  Dalkeith;  was  a 
member  of  the  Incorporated  Society  of  Artists, 
and  in  1764  gained  the  Society  of  Arts'  premium 
for  the  best  landscape.  He  was  an  active  organ- 
izer and  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Royal 
Academy,  founded  in  1768. 

He  achieved  eminent  success  as  an  artist, 
but  spent  more  than  he  realized,  and  became 
bankrupt  when  his  annual  income  was  £2,000. 
Through  the  influence  of  his  friend,  Edmund 
Burke,  he  was  appointed  master  painter  of  Chel- 
sea Hospital.  His  principal  landscapes  were  se- 
cured by  the  Dukes  of  Portland  and  Buccleuch^ 
but  his  most  important  work  was  the  decoration 
of  a  room  at  Norbury  Park,  which  ranks  among 
the  most  celebrated  productions  of  the  art.  His 
works  are  true  delineations  of  nature  and  exe- 
cuted with  admirable  taste.  Three  of  his  water- 
colors  are  in  the  National  collection  at  South 
Kensington.  He  died  at  Paddington,  England, 
May  29,  1784.  His  son  George  became  a  success- 
ful water-color  painter;  exhibited  chiefly  land- 
scapes at  the  Royal  Academy  after  1795,  and  at 
the  Society  of  Painters  in  Water-Colors,  1805-42. 
Another  son  and  daughter  were  also  painters  of 
considerable  merit. 

Hugh  Hamilton 

Hugh  Hamilton,  portrait  painter,  was  born 
in  Dublin,  about  1734.  He  was  a  student  in  the 
Dublin  Art  School  and  commenced  his  career 


io6  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

as  an  artist  in  crayons  at  an  early  age.  He  set- 
tled for  a  time  in  London,  where  he  achieved 
success,  and  was  overwhelmed  with  orders.  In 
1771  he  exhibited  some  portraits  at  the  exhibi- 
tion of  the  Incorporated  Society  of  Artists,  of 
which  he  was  a  member.  In  1778  he  went  to 
Rome,  where  he  remained  for  twelve  years.  By 
the  advice  of  Flaxman,  he  turned  his  attention  to 
oil  painting,  and  subsequently  confined  himself 
to  painting  portraits  in  that  method. 

He  painted  the  portraits  of  many  distin- 
guished Irishmen.  His  picture  in  the  Royal  Dub- 
lin Society  of  Dean  Kirwan  is  one  of  the  best 
known  of  his  works.  About  1791  he  returned  to 
Dublin,  where  he  resided  until  his  death,  in  1806. 

Augustus  Saint  Gaudens 

Augustus  Saint  Gaudens,  sculptor,  was  born 
in  Dublin,  March  1,  1848.  His  mother,  Mary 
McGuinness  Saint  Gaudens,  was  a  native  of  that 
city.  His  father,  Bernard  Paul  Ernest  Saint 
Gaudens,  was  born  in  the  Department  of  Haut 
Garonne,  in  the  Pyrenees.  When  only  six  months 
old  he  was  brought  to  the  United  States  by  his 
parents,  who  settled  in  New  York  City.  At  the 
age  of  thirteen  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  cameo- 
cutter,  and  for  three  years  worked  at  this  trade. 
After  studying  for  some  time  at  the  art  school 
in  Cooper  Union  and  the  Academy  of  Design, 
he  went  to  Paris,  in  1867,  to  complete  his  art 
studies. 

He  studied  at  the  Petite  Ecole  for  some  time, 
and  then  entered  the  studio  of  Jouffroy,  in  the 
Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts,  where  he  worked  with 
Mercier  and  other  noted  sculptors  of  the  last  cen- 
tury.    After  three  years  of  study  he  went  to 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  107 

Rome,  where  he  executed  his  statue  of  Hiawatha, 
which  laid  the  foundation  of  Saint  Gaudens' 
fame  as  a  sculptor.  This  masterpiece  was  pur- 
chased by  ex-Governor  E.  D.  Morgan  of  New 
York.  About  1873  Saint  Gaudens  returned  to 
New  York  City  and  made  a  marble  bust  of  Will- 
iam M.  Evarts.  His  first  public  commission  was 
for  a  bronze  statue  of  Admiral  Farragut,  which 
was  unveiled  in  Madison  Square,  New  York,  in 
1880.  While  still  in  plaster  it  was  exhibited  at 
the  Paris  Salon,  winning  the  highest  praise  from 
the  French  critics,  and  considered  to  be  one  of 
the  world's  masterpieces. 

His  other  more  important  productions  are 
his  Lincoln,  in  Lincoln  Park,  Chicago;  the  Shaw 
Memorial,  in  Boston;  the  Peace  of  God,  in  Rock 
Creek  Cemetery,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Diana,  on 
the  tower  of  Madison  Square  Garden,  New  York 
City;  Adoration  of  the  Cross,  in  St.  Thomas' 
Church,  New  York  City;  Deacon  Chapin,  in 
Springfield,  Mass.;  John  A.  Logan,  in  Grant 
Park,  Chicago,  and  of  General  William  T.  Sher- 
man, in  New  York  City. 

Chicago  claims  two  of  Saint  Gaudens'  great- 
est figures, — those  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and 
General  John  A.  Logan.  With  his  Lincoln  statue 
he  won  success  where  other  sculptors  had  failed. 
It  is  the  resurrection  of  the  great  emancipator 
about  to  address  the  people.  The  Shaw  Memo- 
rial, unveiled  in  1897,  occupies  a  position  on  Bos- 
ton Common,  and  exhibits  clear  evidence  of  his 
genius  in  illustrating  an  actual  fact  in  history. 

The  figure  of  Deacon  Chapin  at  Springfield, 
Mass.,  is  one  of  the  most  striking  pieces  of  mod- 
eling accomplished  by  Saint  Gaudens.  The  work 
is  called  the  Puritan  and  represents  a  rough- 
hewn,  elderly  man  in  a  long  coat  and  steepled 


io8  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

hat  with  a  broad  brim  shading  his  determined 
features.  The  equestrian  statue  of  General  Will- 
iam T.  Sherman,  in  New  York  City,  is  another 
high  example  of  Saint  Gaudens'  art.  From  every 
point  of  view,  the  whole  work  is  compact  with 
dignity,  alive  with  elevated  and  inspiring  energy- 
Saint  Gaudens  was  one  of  the  first  Ameri- 
can sculptors  to  produce  portraits  in  bas-relief. 
Two  of  his  most  attractive  reliefs  are  those  of 
Robert  Louis  Stevenson  and  the  noted  French 
artist,  Bastine  Le  Page.  Among  other  figures 
that  have  gone  far  to  make  Saint  Gaudens  fa- 
mous are  his  Peter  Cooper,  in  New  York  City; 
the  portrait  reliefs  of  Dr.  James  McCosh,  in  the 
chapel  of  Princeton  University;  of  Dr.  Bellows, 
Mrs.  Schuyler  Van  Rensselaer,  and  Miss  Violet 
Sargent.  He  also  produced  a  statue  of  Captain 
Robert  R.  Randall,  at  Sailors*  Snug  Harbor, 
Staten  Island;  of  Hamilton  Fish  and  Phillips 
Brooks,  the  latter  for  the  city  of  Boston.  He 
has  produced  many  works  of  art  for  private  resi- 
dences, and  for  churches,  libraries  and  other  pub- 
lic institutions.  He  designed  the  medal  for  the 
Columbian  Exposition  of  1893.  In  1898  vSaint 
Gaudens  removed  his  studio  to  Paris,  France. 

Probably  the  last  completed  work  to  leave 
the  hands  of  the  sculptor  was  his  design  of  the 
new  gold  coins  for  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment in  1907.  The  latter  part  of  his  life  was 
spent  in  America.  He  married  Augusta  F. 
Homer  in  1877.  Saint  Gaudens  was  a  member  of 
the  Society  of  American  Artists,  the  Architec- 
tural League,  the  National  Academy,  correspond- 
ing member  of  the  Institute  of  France,  and  an 
officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  He  received  the 
honorary  degree  of  LL.  D.  from  Harvard,  and 
that  of  L.  H.  D.  from  Princeton.     He  died  at 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  109 

Cornish,  N.  H.,  August  3,  1907,  where  he  had 
removed  and  established  his  studio. 

His  brother,  Louis  Saint  Gaudens,  sculptor, 
was  born  at  New  York  City,  January  8,  1854; 
studied  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts,  Paris,  and 
assisted  his  brother  in  many  of  his  productions. 
He  also  has  executed  numerous  original  works. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  National  Sculpture  Society 
and  resides  at  Windsor,  Vt. 

George  Buchanan  Armstrong 

George  Buchanan  Armstrong,  founder  of  the 
railway  mail  service,  was  born  in  Armagh,  Octo- 
ber 27,  1822.  His  mother  was  a  Buchanan  and 
is  said  to  have  been  distantly  related  to  James 
Buchanan,  fifteenth  president  of  the  United 
States.  Young  Armstrong  came  to  this  country 
with  his  parents  at  an  early  age  and  passed  his 
youth  in  Baltimore,  Md.  In  1854  he  was  ap- 
pointed assistant  postmaster  at  Chicago,  111.,  but 
resigned  in  1856  to  go  into  business  in  New  York 
City.  The  panic  of  1857,  however,  forced  him  to 
close  his  establishment,  and  the  next  year,  re- 
turning to  Chicago,  he  was  given  his  old  posi- 
tion of  assistant  postmaster.  In  the  spring  of 
1862,  shortly  after  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  Arm- 
strong was  sent  to  Cairo,  111.,  to  superintend  the 
work  of  forwarding  tons  of  "war  mail"  which 
had  accumulated  at  that  point.  Under  his  super- 
vision the  mail  was  quickly  distributed,  and  in 
recognition  of  his  services  he  was  appointed 
colonel  of  Illinois  volunteers.  For  a  long  time 
Armstrong  had  conceived  the  idea  of  mail  dis- 
tribution on  railways.  He  presented  his  plan 
to  the  government,  and  July  1,  1864,  was  author- 
ized by  Postmaster-General  Montgomery  Blair 


no  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

to  equip  a  car  for  testing  the  practicability  of  the 
new  service.  In  a  compartment  car  provided 
for  that  purpose,  on  the  Chicago  and  Northwest- 
ern Railroad,  the  first  railway  postoffice  was 
established  by  Armstrong,  August  28,  1864,  and 
placed  in  service  between  Chicago,  111.,  and  Clin- 
ton, Iowa.  Other  complete  cars  were  also  built 
by  the  same  company  in  1867,  from  plans  fur- 
nished by  Armstrong,  and  ran  between  Boone 
and  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa.  The  advantage  of  the 
new  system  of  mail  distribution  early  became 
apparent  and  other  railroads  speedily  followed 
in  establishing  postal  cars  on  their  lines.  When 
the  system  had  extended  to  most  of  the  leading 
roads  in  the  United  States,  a  new  department 
was  created  at  Washington,  of  which  Armstrong 
was  placed  in  charge  as  General  Superintendent 
of  the  Railway  Postal  Service,  April  4,  1869.  He 
continued  in  that  office  until  May  3,  1871.  He 
died  at  Chicago  two  days  later,  May  5,  1871.  In 
May,  1881,  the  postal  clerks  erected  a  bronze 
bust  to  his  memory  in  the  Custom  House  Square 
at  Chicago. 

Thomas  Byrnes 

Thomas  Byrnes,  famous  detective  and  super- 
intendent of  the  New  York  City  police,  was  born 
in  Ireland  in  1842.  When  a  child  he  was  brought 
to  the  United  States,  the  family  settling  in  New 
York  City.  After  serving  in  the  Civil  War  with 
a  New  York  regiment,  he  joined  the  police  force 
in  December,  1863;  became  a  roundsman  in  1867, 
sergeant  two  years  later,  and  captain  in  1870. 
His  abilities  as  a  leader  were  displayed  in  coping 
with  the  Orange  rioters  in  1871.  In  1879  he  cap- 
tured the  notorious  band  of  burglars  who  had 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  ill 

looted  the  vaults  of  the  Manhattan  Savings  Insti- 
tution of  securities  valued  at  $2,747,700,  on  the 
night  of  October  27,  1878.  The  criminals  were 
sent  to  prison  for  long  terms,  and  Byrnes  was 
appointed  to  the  rank  of  chief  inspector.  It  was 
while  in  this  capacity,  in  charge  of  the  detective 
bureau  in  Mulberry  street,  that  Byrnes  won  his 
greatest  fame.  He  originated  the  ''third  degree" 
method  of  securing  confessions  from  criminals. 
His  skill  in  keeping  in  touch  with  the  movements 
of  criminals  and  his  wide  familiarity  with  the 
underworld  made  Byrnes  the  most  feared  man 
among  thieves  in  America.  He  did  more  perhaps 
to  prevent  and  detect  crime  than  any  other  man 
of  his  time.  He  established  the  famous  "dead 
line"  in  the  financial  district  of  New  York  City, 
and  by  instructing  his  detectives  to  arrest  any 
man  with  a  criminal  record  seen  south  of  Fulton 
street,  he  rid  Wall  street  and  Maiden  Lane  of 
professional  thieves.  He  became  the  intimate 
friend  of  Jay  Gould,  and  one  of  his  noteworthy 
achievements  was  the  capture  of  a  blackmailer 
who  had  been  trying  to  extort  money  from  the 
great  financier.  Gould  showed  his  appreciation 
for  this  service  by  keeping  Byrnes  in  touch  with 
the  stock  market,  in  which  operations  the  in- 
spector cleared  an  ample  fortune. 

In  April,  1892,  Byrnes  succeeded  William 
Murray  as  superintendent  of  the  New  York  po- 
lice, from  which  office  he  retired  in  May,  1895. 
His  thirty-two  years  of  service  in  the  police  de- 
partment brought  many  improvements  in  han- 
dling the  criminal  classes  of  the  metropolis;  and 
while  at  the  head  of  the  New  York  Detective  Bu- 
reau he  became  well  known  all  over  the  civilized 
world. 

Byrnes  was  offered  the  decoration  and  title 


112  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

of  chevalier  and  officer  of  the  Order  of  the  Crown 
of  Italy  by  King  Humbert,  but  he  declined  the 
offer.  He  died  at  New  York  City,  May  7,  1910. 
In  religion  he  was  a  Catholic.  Byrnes  compiled 
a  work  entitled  "The  Professional  Criminals  of 
America,"  New  York  1886,  which  has  passed 
through  several  editions,  and  is  considered  a 
standard  publication  on  criminology. 

Kane  O'Hara 

Kane  O'Hara,  musician,  author  of  several 
burlettas  or  comic  operas,  was  born  in  Ireland, 
about  1714.  He  attained  a  foremost  position  in 
Dublin,  and  was  elected  the  Vice-President  of 
the  Musical  Academy,  founded  mainly  through 
his  exertions,  in  1758.  Next  year  appeared  his 
burletta  of  "Midas,"  written  to  throw  ridi- 
cule on  Italian  operas,  and  shortly  afterwards 
"Golden  Pippin,"  "Tom  Thumb,"  "April  Day," 
and  a  musical  farce,  "The  Two  Misers."  He 
died  in  Dublin,  June  17,  1782,  having  been  totally 
blind  for  some  time  previous. 

Patrick  Sarsfield  Gilmore 

Patrick  Sarsfield  Gilmore,  musician  and 
bandmaster,  was  born  near  Dublin,  December 
28,  1829.  In  his  early  youth  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  brass  band  at  Athlone,  where  he  had 
obtained  employment  in  a  mercantile  establish- 
ment. At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  went  to  Canada 
with  an  English  band,  and  from  there  to  Salem, 
Mass.,  where  he  soon  became  leader  of  a  mili- 
tary band.  In  1858  he  organized  Gilmore's  band 
at  Boston,  which  speedily  made  a  national  repu- 
tation.    After  some  short  tours  the  Civil  War 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  113 

broke  out;  he  attached  his  band  to  the  Twenty- 
fourth  Massachusetts  Regiment,  and  upon  his 
arrival  at  New  Orleans  was  made  master  of  all 
the  bands  in  the  Department  of  the  Gulf  by  Gen- 
eral Banks. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  the  pro- 
jector of  the  monster  peace  jubilees  held  at  Bos- 
ton in  1869  and  1872.  These  jubilees,  at  which 
he  assembled  20,000  singers  and  2,000  instru- 
mentalists in  specially  erected  concert  halls, 
spread  the  name  of  Gilmore  far  and  wide,  and 
his  reputation  became  international.  He  made 
a  tour  through  Europe  with  his  band  in  1878, 
and  upon  his  return  was  made  bandmaster  of 
the  22nd  New  York  Regiment.  He  traveled 
through  the  United  States  giving  concerts,  at 
which  he  introduced  many  musical  innovations, 
and  became  the  most  "picturesque"  leader  in  the 
American  world  of  music. 

Among  his  best  known  compositions,  words 
and  music,  are:  "The  Voice  of  the  Departed 
Soul;  or.  Death's  at  the  Door,"  a  National  An- 
them, and  "Columbia."  His  song,  "Good  News 
from  Home,"  written  during  the  war,  attained  a 
world-wide  popularity.  He  wrote  "When  Johnny 
Comes  Marching  Home  Again"  (under  the  pen 
name  of  Louis  Lambert),  which  was  extremely 
popular,  not  only  during  the  war,  but  many  years 
after  its  close.  Gilmore  also  wrote  a  history  of 
the  Peace  Jubilee  of  1869,  and  a  work  on  scales 
for  the  cornet. 

To  his  qualities  as  a  leader  he  added  mar- 
velous industry,  executive  ability  of  a  high  order, 
and  the  faculty  of  attaching  to  himself  his  asso- 
ciates by  strong  and  lasting  ties.  Gilmore's  love 
for  the  ancient  minstrelsy  of  Ireland  made  him 
extremely  popular  in  the  United  States.    In  New 


114  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

York  his  music  deeply  touched  the  people's 
hearts,  and  he  was  himself  so  well  beloved  in 
the  community  that  fourteen  years  after  his 
death  15,000  people  assembled  in  Madison  Square 
Garden  to  pay  tribute  to  his  memory.  His 
daughter,  Mary  Sarsfield  Gilmore,  has  written 
many  touching  poems  on  Irish  subjects. 

Gilmore  died  of  heart  failure  at  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  September  24,  1892,  during  an  engagement 
of  his  band  at  the  St.  Louis  Exposition.  In  re- 
ligion he  was  a  Catholic.  His  remains  were  re- 
moved to  New  York,  and  interred  in  Calvary 
Cemetery,  with  both  military  and  civic  honors. 

Garrett  Wellesley 

Garrett  Wellesley,  Viscount  Wellesley,  of 
Dangan  Castle,  and  Earl  of  Mornington,  was 
born  in  Ireland,  July  10,  1735.  He  was  the  son  of 
Richard  Colley,  whose  aunt  married  Garrett 
Wesley  of  Dangan,  County  Meath,  descended 
from  a  family  said  to  have  been  settled  in  Ireland 
since  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  Her  son,  Garrett 
Wesley,  died  childless  in  1728,  and  bequeathed  to 
Colley  all  his  real  estate,  upon  condition  that  "he 
and  his  sons,  and  the  heirs  male  of  his  body,  as- 
sumed and  took  upon  him  and  them  the  surname 
and  coat-of-arms  of  Wesley."  Richard  Colley 
changed  his  name  accordingly,  and  was  created 
Baron  Mornington,  in  1746.  He  died  January 
31,  1758.  His  descendants,  about  the  year  1796, 
reverted  to  what  was  considered  the  more  cor- 
rect form  of  the  name, — Wellesley.  The  Colleys 
(otherwise  spelled  Cowley  or  Cooley)  came  to 
Ireland  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  and  were 
granted  estates  in  the  neighborhood  of  Carbery. 
Henry  Colley  of  Castle  Carbery,  a  captain  in 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  115 

Queen  Elizabeth's  Irish  army,  an  ancestor  of 
Richard,  was  knighted  by  Sir  Henry  Sidney. 

Garrett  Wellesley  entered  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  received  the  degree  of  B.  A.  in  1754,  and 
M.  A.  in  1757.  He  succeeded  his  father  as  Baron 
Mornington  in  1758,  and  was  created  Viscount 
Wesley  (or  Wellesley)  and  Earl  of  Mornington 
in  1761.  From  his  earliest  years  he  displayed  an 
aptitude  for  music.  At  fourteen  he  played  the 
harpsichord  and  organ,  and  within  a  short  time 
was  able  to  extemporize  fugues  on  the  latter. 
The  degree  of  Doctor  of  Music  was  conferred  on 
him  by  Trinity  College  in  1764.  Among  his 
other  compositions  were  "Here  in  Cool  Grot" 
and  "Come,  Fairest  Nymph."  He  died  May, 
22,  1781. 

By  his  wife,  Anne,  daughter  of  Arthur  Hill, 
Viscount  Dungannon  (whose  family  had  been 
settled  in  Ireland  for  more  than  one  hundred 
years),  he  had  seven  sons  and  two  daughters. 
One  son,  Arthur  Wellesley,  became  the  famous 
Duke  of  Wellington.  Lady  Mornington,  a  some- 
what cold  and  severe  woman,  who  had  a  difficult 
struggle  to  bring  up  her  large  family  on  a  small 
property,  heavily  encumbered,  lived  to  witness 
the  eminence  to  which  her  son  attained,  and  died 
September  10,  1831. 

David  Bailie  Warden 

David  Bailie  Warden,  physician  and  author, 
was  born  in  Ireland,  in  1778.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Society  of  United  Irishmen,  and  being  im- 
plicated in  the  insurrection  of  1798,  was  per- 
mitted to  go  into  exile.  He  came  to  this  country 
and  became  distinguished  for  his  scientific  attain- 
ments and  varied  learning.    For  some  time  Sec- 


ii6  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

retary  of  the  United  States  Legation  in  France, 
he  was  subsequently,  for  forty  years,  United 
States  Consul  in  Paris,  where  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  French  Academy. 

He  was  the  author  of  numerous  works,  both 
in  French  and  English,  among  which  are:  "Moral 
Faculties  and  Literature  of  the  Negroes,"  1810: 
"Statistical,  Political  and  Historical  Account  of 
the  United  States,"  1819;  "Bibliotheca  Ameri- 
cana," 1831;  and  "History  of  the  Silk  Ball," 
1837.    Dr.  Warden  died  in  Paris,  October  9,  1845. 

Robert  Adams 

Robert  Adams,  surgeon,  was  born  in  Ireland 
about  1791.  He  entered  Trinity  College,  received 
the  degree  of  B.  A.  in  1814,  that  of  M.  A.  in  1832, 
and  M.  D.  in  1842.  He  was  elected  a  fellow  of 
the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  in  1818,  and  sub- 
sequently spent  some  time  on  the  continent  to 
perfect  his  medical  and  surgical  knowledge.  On 
his  return  to  Dublin  he  was  elected  surgeon  suc- 
cessively to  the  Jervis  Street  and  the  Richmond 
Hospitals.  He  took  part  in  founding  the  Rich- 
mond (afterwards  called  the  Carmichael)  School 
of  Medicine,  and  lectured  there  on  surgery  for 
a  number  of  years. 

Adams  was  three  times  president  of  the 
Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  and  in  1861  was  ap- 
pointed surgeon  to  the  Queen  in  Ireland,  and 
regius  professor  of  surgery  in  the  University  of 
Dublin.  He  gained  a  high  reputation  as  a  sur- 
geon and  pathological  anatomist.  He  published  a 
"Treatise  on  Rheumatic  Gout"  (London,  1857), 
which  is  considered  an  authentic  work  on  the 
subject;  also  he  issued  an  essay  on  "Disease  of 
the   Heart,"   and   contributed   articles   on   "Ab- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  117 

normal  Conditions  of  the  Joints"  to  Todd's  Cy- 
clopedia of  Anatomy  and  Physiology.  He  died 
January  13,  1875. 

Barry  Edward  O'Meara 

Barry  Edward  O'Meara,  surgeon  to  Napo- 
leon Bonaparte  at  St.  Helena,  was  born  in  Ire- 
land in  1786,  educated  at  Trinity  College,  and  at 
an  early  age  appointed  Assistant  Surgeon  to 
the  62nd  Regiment.  He  served  for  some  years 
in  Sicily,  Egypt  and  Calabria.  In  consequence 
of  a  duel,  he  was  obliged  to  quit  the  army, 
but  soon  received  an  appointment  in  the  navy. 
He  was  serving  in  the  Bellerophon  when,  on 
July  14,  1815,  Napoleon  surrendered  on  board 
of  that  vessel.  His  professional  skill  and  knowl- 
edge of  Italian  gained  the  favor  of  the  former 
Emperor,  at  whose  request  he  was  sent  with  him 
to  St.  Helena,  as  his  medical  attendant.  O'Meara 
appears  to  have  agreed  tolerably  well  with  Sir 
George  Cockburn  and  Sir  P.  Malcolm,  Governors 
of  St.  Helena;  but  soon  after  the  arrival  of  Sir 
Hudson  Lowe,  misunderstandings  arose,  and  he 
returned  to  England  in  1818.  O'Meara  was  at 
first  well  received  by  the  Admiralty,  but  having 
preferred  accusations  against  Lowe  for  tyran- 
nical and  oppressive  treatment  of  Napoleon,  his 
name  w^as  erased  from  the  list  of  naval  surgeons. 

In  1822  he  published  ''Napoleon  in  Exile; 
or,  A  Voice  from  St.  Helena,"  in  which  he  feel- 
ingly depicted  the  petty  annoyances  and  degrad- 
ing restrictions  to  which,  he  claimed,  Napoleon 
was  subjected.  He  became  exceedingly  popular, 
his  view  of  the  case  being  supported  by  public 
opinion.  He  died  in  London,  June  3,  1836,  the 
result   of   a   cold    caught   while    attending   one 


ii8  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

of  O'Connell's   meetings.    O'Meara  was   twice 
married. 

His  granddaughter,  Kathleen  O'Meara,  born 
in  Dublin  in  1839,  removed  to  Paris  at  an  early 
age  and  adopted  a  literary  profession,  becoming 
well  known  as  a  writer  of  works  of  fiction  under 
the  pen  name  of  Grace  Ramsay.  Her  biograph- 
ical work  also  won  her  a  high  reputation. 

Bryan  Higgins 

Bryan  Higgins,  M.  D.,  physician  and  chem- 
ist, was  born  in  County  Sligo,  about  1737.  After 
obtaining  his  medical  degree,  he  went  to  London, 
where  he  practiced  with  considerable  success. 
He  early  devoted  his  attention  to  chemistry,  and 
opened  a  school  for  its  practical  study  at  London 
in  July,  1774.  In  1786  he  published  his  best 
known  work,  ''Experiments  and  Observations  on 
Chemical  Philosophy."  Between  1780  and  1790 
he  visited  Russia,  and  enjoyed  the  favor  of  the 
Empress  Catherine.  In  1789  he  obtained  a  pat- 
ent for  a  cheap  and  durable  cement.  On  his  re- 
turn from  Russia  he  resumed  his  chemical  lec- 
tures. Dr.  Higgins  died  on  his  estate  of  Walford, 
in  Staffordshire,  in  1820.  His  biographer,  W.  K. 
Sullivan,  gives  a  full  analysis  of  his  works. 

William  Higgins 

William  Higgins,  chemist,  nephew  of  Bryan 
Higgins,  was  born  in  County  Sligo.  He  gradu- 
ated at  Oxford  and  received  instructions  from 
his  uncle  in  the  science  in  which  he  afterwards 
became  eminent.  In  1791  he  was  appointed 
chemist  to  the  Apothecaries'  Company  of  Ire- 
land, at  what  was  then  considered  a  high  salary 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  119 

—  £200.  In  1795  he  was  made  chemist  and  Hbra- 
rian  to  the  Royal  Dublin  Society.  He  was  a  man 
of  pecuHar  habits,  with  little  energy.  His  style 
of  lecturing  was  very  peculiar,  and  a  number  of 
anecdotes  were  long  remembered  of  incidents 
the  result  of  his  quaintness.  His  life  was  singu- 
larly uneventful;   he  died  in  1825. 

W.  K.  Sullivan  gives  a  full  account  of  his 
discoveries  in  chemistry,  more  especially  the  law 
of  multiple  proportion,  in  which  he  is  said  to 
have  anticipated  by  many  years  some  of  Dalton's 
greatest  achievements.  Indeed,  he  may  be  said 
to  have  led  the  way  in  the  discovery  of  the  atomic 
theory. 

Francis  Barker 

Francis  Barker,  M.  D.,  chemist  and  physi- 
cian, was  born  in  Waterford  the  latter  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  He  obtained  his  degree 
from  the  University  of  Dublin  in  1793,  and  com- 
pleted his  medical  education  in  Edinburgh,  where 
he  became  intimate  with  Sir  Walter  Scott.  Pre- 
vious to  the  discovery  of  the  voltaic  battery,  he 
suggested  the  identity  of  the  nervous  fluid  with 
dynamical  electricity.  Returning  to  his  native 
city,  he  practiced  for  five  years,  and  took  part 
in  the  establishment  of  what  has  been  said  to 
be  the  first  Irish  fever  hospital.  Afterwards,  in 
Dublin,  as  a  chemical  lecturer,  he  became  deserv- 
edly popular,  and  started  the  first  medical  journal 
in  Ireland. 

In  1821,  in  conjunction  with  Dr.  Cheyne,  he 
published  a  treatise  on  "Epidemic  Fevers  in  Ire- 
land," in  two  volumes;  and  in  1826  he  edited  the 
Dublin  Pharmacopoeia.  Until  1852  he  continued 
Secretary  of  the  Irish  Board  of  Health.  He  died 
about  1859. 


I20  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Richard  Barter 

Richard  Barter,  M.  D.,  hydropathic  physi- 
cian, was  born  in  Cooldaniel,  County  Cork,  in 
1802.  He  entered  on  the  duties  of  his  profession 
as  a  dispensary  physician  at  Inniscarra,  where 
he  was  elected  honorary  secretary  of  the  County 
of  Cork  Agricuhural  Society,  and  contributed 
materially  to  improve  the  husbandry  of  the 
south  of  Ireland.  About  the  year  1842  Cork  was 
visited  by  Captain  Claridge,  an  advocate  of  hy- 
dropathy. Dr.  Barter,  who  had  been  for  some 
time  inclining  towards  the  new  system,  now 
openly  advocated  it,  and  despite  the  opposition 
of  members  of  his  profession,  devoted  his  talents 
and  energy  to  its  practice.  He  opened  the  cele- 
brated water-cure  establishment  at  Blarne}'.  It 
was  mainly  through  his  exertions  that  Turkish 
baths  were  introduced  into  the  British  Isles.  He 
died  at  Blarney,  October  3,  1870. 

O'Bryen  Bellingham 

O'Bryen  Bellingham,  surgeon,  was  born  in 
Dublin,  December  12,  1805.  He  received  his 
medical  education  in  Dublin.  In  1833  he  became 
a  member  of  the  College  of  Surgeons,  and  not 
long  after  examiner  in  pharmacy  and  professor. 
Two  years  later  he  was  appointed  surgeon  to  St. 
Vincent's  Hospital,  where  he  assiduously  labored 
until  his  death.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Dublin  Natural  History  Society.  He  died 
October  11,  1857,  and  was  laid  in  the  burying- 
place  of  his  ancestors  at  Castlebellingham.  His 
advocacy  of  the  cure  of  aneurisms  by  pressure 
gained  for  him  European  fame. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  121 

David  MacBride 

David  MacBride,  M.  D.,  one  of  the  most  emi- 
nent Dublin  physicians  of  his  time,  was  born  at 
Ballymoney,  County  Antrim,  April  26,  1726.  He 
served  for  many  years  as  surgeon  in  the  nav}^ 
and  made  those  observations  which  resulted  in 
his  valuable  treatise  on  scurvy,  published  in  1767. 
After  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  he  left  the 
service,  and  studied  anatomy  under  Hunter,  and 
obstetrics  under  Smellie.  He  studied  at  Balh'- 
money  in  1749,  and  removed  to  Dublin  in  1751, 
where  his  modesty  kept  him  in  the  background 
for  many  years. 

In  1764  he  published  his  ''Experimental  Es- 
says on  the  Fermentation  of  Alimentary  Mix- 
tures," a  work  which,  translated  almost  imme- 
diately into  French  and  German,  gained  for  him 
a  European  reputation.  The  value  of  his  im- 
improvements  in  the  art  of  tanning  was  recog- 
nized by  the  presentation  of  medals  from  more 
than  one  learned  society.  The  results  of  his 
medical  experience  were  given  to  the  world  in 
1772,  in  his  valuable  "Methodical  Introduction  to 
Medicine,"  afterwards  translated  into  Latin,  Ger- 
man, French,  and  Dutch.  Dr.  MacBride  died  at 
his  home  in  Dublin,  December  28,  1778. 

Henry  Marsh 

Sir  Henry  Marsh,  physician,  was  born  in 
Loughrea,  County  Gal  way,  in  1790.  He  was  line- 
ally descended  from  Francis  Marsh,  Archbishop 
of  Dublin.  Sir  Henry  graduated  at  Trinity  Col- 
lege in  1812,  but  having  attached  himself  to  a 
sect  known  as  the  Walkerites,  abandoned  the 
studies  which  he  had  been  pursuing,  with  a  view 


122  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

of  entering  the  church.  He  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  medicine  and  was  apprenticed  to  PhiHp 
Crampton. 

In  1818  he  took  his  degree,  practiced  in  the 
Paris  hospitals,  and  in  1820,  having  settled  in 
Dublin,  was  appointed  physician  to  Dr.  Steevens' 
Hospital.  Henceforth  his  progress  in  the  medi- 
cal profession  was  rapid.  He  enjoyed  an  increas- 
ing private  practice,  and  held  some  of  the  most 
important  and  honorable  positions  connected 
with  Dublin  medical  charities,  and  in  1839  he  and 
Surgeon  Crampton  were  created  baronets.  He 
died  at  his  residence  in  Merrion  Square,  Dublin, 
December  1,  1860,  and  was  buried  in  Mouijt 
Jerome  Cemetery. 

Bernard  Flaherty 

Bernard  Flaherty,  actor  (whose  stage  name 
was  Barney  Williams),  was  born  in  Cork  in  1823. 
He  came  to  the  United  States  when  a  boy,  and 
in  1836  was  employed  at  the  old  Franklin  Thea- 
ter in  New  York  City.  He  later  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  company,  and  in  1845  made  his  appear- 
ance at  Philadelphia  as  Mad  Sampson  in  ''The 
Heroic  Struggle  of  1776."  That  same  year  he 
became  manager  of  Vauxhall  Garden  in  the 
Bowery,  New  York  City.  In  1850  he  married 
Maria  Pray,  widow  of  Charles  Mestayer,  who 
thereafter  appeared  with  him,  chiefly  in  Irish 
comedy,  with  great  success. 

In  company  with  his  wife,  he  went  to  San 
Francisco,  in  1845,  and  the  next  year  sailed  for 
England  and  made  his  debut  at  the  Adelphi 
Theater,  London,  June  30,  1855,  as  Rory  O'More. 
After  a  very  successful  engagement,  he  traveled 
on  the  continent.     Returning  to  this  country  in 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  123 

1859,  he  played  at  Niblo's  Garden,  and  subse- 
quently managed  Wallack's  old  Broadway  Thea- 
ter in  New  York  City.  He  afterwards  made 
annual  tours  throughout  the  United  States,  be- 
came one  of  the  most  affluent  actors  of  his  time, 
and  attained  wide  popularity  as  a  comedian.  He 
died  in  New  York  City,  April  25,  1876.  He  owed 
much  of  his  success  to  his  wife,  who  had  been 
an  actress  of  considerable  talent  from  childhood. 

John  Drew 

John  Drew,  actor,  was  born  in  Dublin,  Sep- 
tember 3,  1825.  He  came  to  this  country  when 
a  boy,  and  after  a  somewhat  adventurous  career, 
including  a  voyage  at  sea,  he  made  his  first  ap- 
pearance as  an  actor  at  the  Richmond  Hill  thea- 
ter. New  York  City.  After  traveling  through 
the  West,  he  reappeared  at  the  latter  city  as 
Dr.  O'Toole  in  ''The  Irish  Tutor."  July  27,  1850, 
he  married  Louisa  Lane  Mossop,  one  of  the  most 
noted  actresses  then  on  the  American  stage,  and 
at  one  time  leading  lady  for  Edwin  Forrest, 
Junius  Booth,  and  other  noted  actors.  After 
their  marriage.  Drew  and  his  wife  acted  through- 
out the  United  States.  In  1852  they  began  an 
engagement  at  the  old  Arch  Street  Theater,  Phil- 
adelphia, appearing  in  "She  Would  and  She 
Would  Not,"  and  other  comedies,  with  a  com- 
pany which  included  Frank  Drew,  brother  of 
John  and  an  actor  of  much  ability. 

August  20,  1853,  in  conjunction  with  Will- 
iam Wheatley,  Drew  undertook  the  management 
of  the  Arch  Street  Theater,  but  the  venture  not 
meeting  with  success,  he  made  a  tour  through- 
out the  United  States  and  England.  In  1859 
he  again  went  abroad,  going  to  Australia  and 
Europe,    returning    to    this    country    in    1862. 


124  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Shortly  before  his  return  to  the  United  States, 
his  wife  assumed  the  entire  management  of  the 
Arch  Street  Theater,  Philadelphia,  and  there 
John  Drew  played  several  of  his  roles,  such  as 
O'Bryan  in  "The  Irish  Emigrant,"  and  Sir  Lu- 
cius O'Trigger  in  "The  Rivals."  He  made  his 
last  appearance  on  the  stage  May  9,  and  died  at 
Philadelphia  May  21,  1862. 

Among  his  most  successful  characters  were 
Goldfinch  in  "The  Road  to  Ruin,"  and  Flutter  in 
"The  Bell's  Stratagem."  Mrs.  Drew  continued 
in  the  management  of  the  Arch  Street  Theater 
for  thirty  years  after  her  husband's  death,  and 
her  house  became  famous  throughout  the  country 
as  the  home  of  comedy.  Some  of  the  most  noted 
performers  on  the  American  stage  appeared 
there,  among  whom  were  Edwin  Booth,  Lester 
Wallack,  and  Charlotte  Cushman.  Mrs.  Drew 
died  at  Larchmont,  N.  Y.,  July  2,  1897. 

The  most  distinguished  member  of  the  fam- 
ily now  living  is  the  son,  John  Drew,  one  of  the 
foremost  comedians  in  America  at  the  present 
time.  His  sister,  Georgiana  Drew,  married  Mau- 
rice Barrymore  in  1876.  Their  children,  Ethel, 
John  and  Lionel  Barrymore,  occupy  prominent 
places  on  the  stage.  No  family  has,  perhaps, 
produced  so  many  distinguished  players  or  holds 
a  higher  place  in  the  annals  of  the  American 
stage  than  do  the  descendants  of  John  Drew. 

Patrick  Donahoe 

Patrick  Donahoe,  journalist  and  publisher, 
was  born  in  County  Cavan,  March  17,  1811.  He 
came  to  the  United  States  with  his  parents  at  the 
age  of  ten,  and,  at  Boston,  Mass.,  where  the  fam- 
ily settled,  young  Donahoe  received  his   early 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  125 

education.  He  subsequently  learned  the  compos- 
itor's trade  and,  while  serving  in  this  capacity  on 
several  Boston  papers,  acquired  a  knov^ledge  of 
journalism.  In  1836  he  founded  the  Boston 
Pilot,  a  Catholic  w^eekly  paper,  v^hich  became  a 
a  great  success,  and  attained  a  wide  circulation. 
In  addition  to  his  paper  Donahoe  established  a 
publishing  house,  and  a  Catholic  book  and  chyrch 
goods  store. 

In  the  banking  and  publishing  business  he 
acquired  wealth  and  influence.  He  was  a  gener- 
ous subscriber  to  charity,  and  took  a  leading  part 
in  organizing  several  Irish-American  regiments 
for  service  in  the  Union  army  during  the  Civil 
War.  His  misfortunes  began  in  1872,  when  the 
great  Boston  fire  of  that  year  destroyed  his  prop- 
erty, the  loss  of  which  amounted  to  more  than 
$300,000.  Immediately  resuming  business,  he 
was  burned  out  the  second  and  third  time  within 
a  few  years,  and  as  most  of  the  insurance  com- 
panies had  also  failed,  his  loss  was  almost  total. 
The  failure  of  friends,  whose  paper  he  had  in- 
dorsed, cost  him  $200,000  more.  In  1876  his 
bank  suspended  payment,  with  a  heavy  indebted- 
ness to  depositors,  which  obliged  him  to  place  his 
entire  possessions  at  the  disposal  of  his  creditors. 

The  Pilot  passed  into  the  hands  of  Arch- 
bishop Williams  of  Boston  and  John  Boyle 
O'Reilly.  Donahoe,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
sixty-five,  began  business  anew,  resumed  his  for- 
eign exchange  and  passenger  agency,  established 
Donahoe's  Magazine  in  1878,  and  shortly  after 
the  death  of  John  Boyle  O'Reilly,  he  again  came 
into  the  possession  of  the  Pilot.  The  Laetare 
medal,  an  honor  given  once  a  year  to  Catholic 
laymen  for  distinguished  service,  by  the  Univer- 
sity of  Notre  Dame,  Ind.,  was  conferred  on  him 


126  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

in  1890.  He  died  in  Boston,  Mass.,  March  18, 
1901.  In  May,  1894,  three  hundred  of  Boston's 
most  influential  citizens  assembled  at  the  Tre- 
mont  House  to  felicitate  him  on  the  completion 
of  his  eightieth  year. 

Hugh  O'Brien 

Hugh  O'Brien,  journalist  and  politician,  was 
born  in  County  Fermanagh,  July  13,  1827.  He 
came  to  the  United  States  with  his  parents  at 
the  age  of  five  and  received  a  common-school 
education  at  Boston,  Mass.  At  the  age  of  twelve 
he  was  apprenticed  to  learn  the  printer's  trade  in 
the  office  of  the  Boston  Courier,  and  became  fore- 
man in  a  book  and  job  establishment  at  fif- 
teen. Several  years  later  he  founded  the  Ship- 
ping and  Commercial  List,  of  which  he  was 
long  the  editor  and  publisher,  and  for  many  years 
was  an  authority  on  matters  relating  to  the  trade 
and  commerce  of  Boston. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen, 
1875-77,  1879-81  and  1883,  and  was  chairman  of 
the  board  for  four  years.  In  December,  1884,  he 
was  elected  Mayor  of  Boston,  and  held  that  office 
four  terms,  until  1888.  As  Alderman  and  Mayor, 
covering  a  period  of  eleven  years  of  active  serv- 
ice, he  carried  out  various  reforms  and  improve- 
ments in  the  city  government.  O'Brien  was  pres- 
ident of  the  Union  Institution  of  Savings,  treas- 
urer of  the  Franklin  Typographical  Society  for 
fifteen  years,  and  trustee  of  St.  Vincent's  Orphan 
Asylum.    He  died  at  Somerville,  Mass.,  in  1895. 

James  Jeffrey  Roche 

James  Jeffrey  Roche,  editor  and  poet,  was 
born   at   Mountmellick,    Queens    County,    May 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  127 

31,  1847,  son  of  Edward  and  Margaret  Doyle 
Roche.  His  parents  removed  to  Prince  Edward 
Island  the  same  year  young  Roche  was  born, 
where  the  boy  received  a  classical  education  at 
St.  Dunstan's  College,  Charlottetown.  James 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1866  and  engaged 
in  commercial  pursuits  at  Boston,  and  contrib- 
uted articles  to  several  newspapers  and  period- 
icals. In  1883  he  became  assistant  editor  of  the 
Boston  Pilot,  of  which  John  Boyle  O'Reilly  was 
editor,  and  on  the  latter's  death,  in  1890,  Roche 
was  made  editor-in-chief. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Metropolitan  Park 
Commission,  Boston,  in  1893.  Roche  was  the 
author  of  "Songs  and  Satires,"  1886;  "Life  of 
John  Boyle  O'Reilly,"  1891 ;  "The  Story  of  the 
Filibusters,"  1891;  "Ballads  of  the  Blue  Water," 
1895;  "Her  Majesty  the  King,"  1898;  "By-ways 
of  War,"  1899.  In  1904  Roche  was  appointed 
United  States  Consul  at  Genoa,  Italy,  and  in 
1907  Consul  at  Berne,  Switzerland,  where  he  died 
April  3,  1908.  His  remains  were  returned  to 
America  and  interred  at  Boston.  Roche  re- 
ceived the  honorary  degree  of  LL.  D.  from  the 
University  of  Notre  Dame  in  1891. 

Patrick  Walsh 

Patrick  Walsh,  journalist  and  United  States 
Senator,  was  born  at  Ballingarry,  County  Limer- 
ick, January  1,  1840,  son  of  Michael  and  Mary 
Hays  Walsh.  He  came  to  the  United  States 
with  his  parents  at  the  age  of  twelve,  the  family 
settling  at  Charleston,  S.  C,  where  young  Walsh 
was  apprenticed  to  the  printer's  trade.  He  sub- 
sequently studied  at  Georgetown  College,  D.  C, 
until  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  when  he  returned 


128  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

to  South  Carolina  and  served  for  a  short  time  in 
the  army.  He  removed  to  Augusta,  Ga.,  in  1862, 
obtained  employment  as  a  printer  on  the  Daily 
Constitution,  and  rose  steadily  in  the  newspaper 
business  until,  in  1877,  he  became  editor  and 
proprietor  of  the  Augusta  Chronicle.  Previ- 
ously, in  1866,  he  was  made  southern  agent  of 
the  New  York  Associated  Press. 

In  1872  Walsh  was  elected  to  the  State  Leg- 
islature, and  in  1880  was  a  delegate  to  the  Na- 
tional Democratic  Convention  which  nominated 
General  W.  S.  Hancock  for  President.  In  1884 
he  was  a  delegate-at-large  to  the  National  Con- 
vention held  at  Chicago,  that  nominated  Grover 
Cleveland.  For  four  years  he  was  the  Georgia 
member  of  the  National  Democratic  Executive 
Committee,  and  member-at-large  of  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition  in  1893.  In  April,  1894, 
Walsh  was  appointed  by  the  governor  to  fill  the 
unexpired  term  as  United  States  Senator  of  Al- 
fred H.  Colquitt,  who  died,  and  served  in  the 
Senate  until  March  4,  1895.  He  was  elected 
Mayor  of  Augusta  in  1897.  Walsh  was  married, 
in  1866,  to  Anna  I.  McDonald  of  South  Carolina. 
He  died  at  Augusta,  Ga.,  March  19,  1899. 

John  Binns 

John  Binns,  journalist,  was  born  in  Dublin, 
December  22,  1772.  His  father,  who  died  when 
he  was  two  years  old,  left  considerable  property 
and  John  received  an  excellent  education.  At 
the  request  of  his  elder  brother,  who  inherited 
the  estate  of  his  father,  he  accompanied  him  to 
London  in  1794.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  he  be- 
came a  member  of  the  London  Corresponding 
Company,  which  was  afterwards  an  influential 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  129 

political  association.  He  later  became  a  member 
of  the  United  Irishmen,  was  arrested,  but  was 
acquitted.  February  21,  1798,  he  left  London, 
bound  for  France,  but  was  rearrested  at  Mar- 
gate, and  after  an  examination  by  the  privy  coun- 
cil, was  committed  to  the  Tower  of  London.  At 
Maidstone  Binns  was  tried,  with  Arthur  O'Con- 
nor, for  high  treason,  but  acquitted.  Shortly 
afterwards  he  was  again  arrested  and  confined  in 
Clerkenwell  prison,  whence  he  was  transferred 
to  Gloucester,  where  he  remained  until  March, 
180L 

In  July  of  that  year  he  emigrated,  with  his 
brother,  Benjamin,  to  Baltimore,  Md.  Proceed- 
ing to  Northumberland,  Pa.,  he  founded,  in 
March,  1802,  the  Republican  Argus,  which  gave 
him  great  influence  with  the  Democratic  party. 
From  1807  to  1829  Binns  conducted,  at  Phila- 
delphia, the  Democratic  Press — the  leading 
paper  in  the  state,  until,  in  1824,  it  opposed  the 
election  of  Andrew  Jackson.  In  December,  1822, 
he  was  chosen  alderman  of  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, an  office  which  he  held  until  1844.  In 
1850  he  published  "Binns'  Magistrate's  Manual," 
and  in  1854,  "Recollections  of  the  Life  of  John 
Binns."    He  died  in  Philadelphia,  June  16,  i860. 

Joseph  Burbridge  McCullagh 

Joseph  Burbridge  McCullagh,  journalist, 
"Father  of  the  Interview,"  was  born  in  Dublin, 
in  1843.  He  came  to  the  United  States  at  the 
age  of  eleven  and  secured  employment  as  an  ap- 
prentice in  the  office  of  a  weekly  paper  in  New 
York  City.  In  1858  he  went  to  St.  Louis,  where 
he  served  first  as  a  compositor  and  later  as  a 
reporter  on  the  St.   Louis  Democrat.     Shortly 


130  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

afterwards  he  became  connected  with  the  Cin- 
cinnati Commercial,  and  on  the  outbreak  of  the 
civil  war  was  made  war  correspondent  for  that 
paper  at  Washington,  D.  C.  His  letters,  signed 
"Mack,"  soon  made  him  very  popular. 

McCullagh  was  with  Grant's  army  in  the 
early  part  of  the  war,  and  the  general  and  cor- 
respondent grew  to  be  fast  friends,  their  inti- 
macy continuing  until  the  former's  death.  He 
was  on  one  of  the  boats  that  ran  the  shore  bat- 
teries past  Vicksburg  to  cut  off  supplies  coming 
up  the  Mississippi  river.  McCullagh  was  also 
with  Sherman's  army  on  its  march  through 
Georgia. 

It  was  after  the  war  that  he  became  famous 
as  an  interviewer  for  the  press.  He  traveled 
through  the  South  and  wrote  up  his  observations 
for  the  Cincinnati  Commercial.  During  the  tour 
he  sent  a  long  article,  containing  an  interview 
with  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  ex-vice-president  of 
the  Confederacy,  which  is  said  to  have  been  the 
first  interview  of  the  kind  ever  given  to  the  pub- 
lic. He  was  also  a  frequent  visitor  at  the  White 
House  during  the  administration  of  President 
Johnson  and  for  some  time  was  chief  medium  of 
communication  between  the  president  and  the 
public. 

From  1868  to  1870  he  was  managing  editor 
of  the  Cincinnati  Enquirer.  In  the  latter  year 
he  purchased  an  interest  in  the  Chicago  Repub- 
lican (now  the  Inter  Ocean),  which  was  burnt 
out  during  the  great  fire  of  1871.  Removing  to 
St.  Louis,  McCullagh  became  editor  of  the  Dem- 
ocrat, but  when  the  managers  disagreed  as  to 
the  policy  of  the  paper  he  founded  and  edited 
the  Globe.  In  1873  the  two  papers  were  con- 
solidated as  the  Globe-Democrat,  of  which  Mc- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  131 

Cullagh    was    made    editor-in-chief,    a    position 
which  he  occupied  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

McCullagh  was  considered  one  of  the  best 
newspaper  correspondents  of  the  country  and 
is  credited  with  being  the  originator  of  the  mod- 
ern style  of  newspaper  interviewing.  He  was  a 
writer  of  force  and  abiHty,  a  tireless  worker,  pos- 
sessed of  striking  genius  in  gathering  news.  He 
died  as  a  result  of  a  fall  from  a  second  story 
window  at  the  residence  of  his  sister-in-law,  at 
St.  Louis,  Mo.,  December  31,  1896.  His  remains 
were  interred  in  Bellefontaine  cemetery. 

Peter  Fenelon  Collier 

Peter  Fenelon  Collier,  publisher,  was  born 
in  Myshall,  County  Carlow,  December  12,  1849, 
son  of  Robert  and  Catherine  Fenelon  Collier.  At 
the  age  of  seventeen  he  came  to  this  country  and 
secured  employment  in  the  car  shops  at  Dayton, 
Ohio.  By  thrift  and  economy  he  was  soon  able 
to  save  sufficient  money  out  of  his  small  wages 
to  enter  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  at  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  where  he  remained  four  years. 

On  leaving  school  he  obtained  a  position  as 
book  salesman  in  the  publishing  house  of  Sadlier 
&  Co.,  of  New  York.  He  canvassed  from  door  to 
door  and  prospered  from  the  start.  Before  long 
he  embarked  in  the  publishing  business  on  his 
own  account,  and  with  only  a  few  hundred  dol- 
lars' capital,  he  purchased  the  electrotype  plates 
of  "Father  Burke's  Lectures,"  a  popular  Catho- 
lic work.  Though  obliged  to  borrow  money  for 
materials  and  printing,  he  made  such  a  success 
of  the  venture  that  his  profits  the  first  year 
amounted  to  nearly  $100,000.  In  1874  he  pub- 
lished the  "Life  of  Pius  IX.,"  and  his  business 


132  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

grew  to  such  an  extent  that  branch  houses  were 
established  in  several  large  cities. 

Collier  was  exceedingly  successful  in  pub- 
lishing the  complete  works  of  popular  standard 
authors,  issued  in  a  series  of  volumes  compris- 
ing extensive  sets  for  the  household  library,  in- 
cluding the  best  of  fiction,  poetry,  essays,  histo- 
ries, encyclopedias,  and  several  editions  of  the 
Bible.  A  pioneer  in  the  installment  plan  of  pay- 
ment for  these  popular  editions,  he  was  able  to 
reach  a  large  number  of  people,  and  by  this 
method  sold  millions  of  volumes  throughout  the 
United  States  and  Canada. 

His  first  venture  in  the  periodical  field.  Once 
a  Week,  was  ultimately  transformed  into  Col- 
lier's Weekly,  with  which  he  made  a  fortune. 
The  energy  and  fearlessness  of  this  paper,  both 
in  editorial  and  business  departments,  gives  it  a 
foremost  position  in  current  topics  and  national 
affairs.  He  was  an  enthusiast  on  out  of  door 
sports,  being  an  expert  polo  player,  and  almost 
daily  was  in  the  saddle.  At  his  home  in  New 
Jersey  he  kept  a  pack  of  hounds,  with  which  he 
hunted  in  the  surrounding  country.  He  married, 
in  1875,  Catherine  Louise  Dunn.  Collier  was  a 
member  of  the  Ohio  Society,  the  American  Acad- 
emy of  Political  and  Social  Science,  the  United 
States  Catholic  Historical  Society,  the  New 
York  Historical  Association,  and  many  clubs. 
He  died  in  New  York  City,  April  24,  1909,  being 
survived  by  his  wife  and  only  child,  Robert  J. 
Collier. 

As  founder  of  Collier's  Weekly  and  the  head 
of  P.  F.  Collier  &  Son,  he  ranked  as  one  of  the 
most  successful  publishers  in  America.  His  son, 
Robert,  born  in  New  York,  June  17,  1876,  grad- 
uated A.  B.  at  Georgetown  University,  Washing- 


IRISH  piOGRAPHY  133 

ton,  D.  C,  and  afterwards  studied  at  Oxford 
University,  England,  and  at  Harvard  College  in 
this  country.  He  succeeded  his  father  as  head  of 
the  publishing  house  of  P.  F.  Collier  &  Son. 

Edwin  Lawrence  Godkin 

Edwin  Lawrence  Godkin,  journalist,  was 
born  in  Moyne,  County  Wicklow,  October  2, 
1831.  His  father,  Rev.  James  Godkin,  a  Presby- 
terian clergyman,  was  a  supporter  of  the  Young 
Ireland  party  and  the  cause  of  Home  Rule.  In 
1848,  he  was  forced  out  of  his  pulpit,  when  it  be- 
came known  that  he  was  the  author  of  "Repeal 
Essays."  Lawrence  graduated  at  Queens  Col- 
lege, Belfast,  in  1851,  and  in  the  same  year  went 
to  London  and  began  the  study  of  law  in  Lin- 
coln's Inn.  He  began  his  journalistic  career  in 
1853,  and  served  as  war  correspondent  for  the 
London  Daily  News  in  the  Crimean  War.  In 
1856  he  came  to  the  United  States  and  made  a 
tour  of  the  South,  writing  up  the  country  for  the 
London  Daily  News.  Godkin  returned  to  New 
York  City  in  the  spring  of  1857,  studied  law,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar,  February  6,  1858.  Dur- 
ing the  civil  war  he  was  on  the  editorial  staff  of 
the  New  York  Times  and  correspondent  for  the 
London  Daily  News.  In  July,  1865,  he  founded 
and  became  editor  of  the  Nation,  a  weekly  jour- 
nal. When  the  Nation  was  made  the  weekly  edi- 
tion of  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  in  1881,  he 
continued  as  one  of  the  editors,  and  on  the  retire- 
ment of  Carl  Schurz,  in  1883,  he  was  made  editor- 
in-chief,  which  office  he  continued  until  1899, 
when  he  retired  on  account  of  ill  health.  Godkin 
was  eminently  distinguished  for  his  work  of  ex- 
posing the  spoils  system  in  American  politics. 


134  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

The  ardor  and  fearlessness  with  which  he  fought 
against  poHtical  corruption  brought  him  a  great 
reputation.  He  was  a  lifelong  Home  Ruler,  and 
was  present  in  the  House  of  Commons  when 
Gladstone's  Home  Rule  bill  passed  its  third  read- 
ing. In  1870  he  declined  the  Chair  of  History 
at  Harvard  University.  He  served  for  some  time 
as  civil  service  commissioner  under  Mayor 
Strong  of  New  York.  Godkin  was  married 
twice — first,  in  1859,  to  Frances  E.  Foote,  of  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  who  died  April  11,  1875.  In  1884 
he  married  Katherine  Sands.  He  was  the  author 
of  "The  History  of  Hungary  and  the  Magyars: 
From  the  Earliest  Period  to  the  Close  of  the 
Late  War,"  in  1853,  second  edition,  1856;  "Re- 
flections and  Comments,"  1895;  "Problems  of 
Democracy,"  1896,  and  "Unforeseen  Tendencies 
of  Democracy,"  1898.  He  died  at  Greenway, 
Devon,  England,  May  21,  1902,  being  survived  by 
his  second  wife  and  by  his  son,  Lawrence  God- 
kin,  who  rose  to  prominence  at  the  New  York 
bar. 

Edmund  Bailey  O'Callaghan 

Edmund  Bailey  O'Callaghan,  historian, 
was  born  at  Mallow,  County  Cork,  February  29, 
1797,  where  he  was  carefully  educated.  About 
1820  he  went  to  Paris  and  began  the  study  of 
medicine.  In  1823  he  immigrated  to  Canada  and 
completed  his  medical  studies  at  Quebec,  where 
he  was  admitted  to  practice,  in  1827.  He  also 
became  active  in  public  affairs  and  joined  in  or- 
ganizing the  Society  of  the  Friends  of  Ireland. 
In  1830  he  removed  to  Montreal,  where  he  took 
a  prominent  part  in  public  meetings  and  wrote 
political  articles.     In  1834  he  became  editor  of 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  135 

the  Vindicator,  the  organ  of  Canadian  indepen- 
dence, and  in  1835  was  elected  for  Yamaska  to 
the  Assembly  of  Lower  Canada. 

After  the  insurrection  of  1837  he  removed  to 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  where  he  practiced  medicine  and 
also  edited  the  Northern  Light,  an  industrial 
journal.  Impressed  with  the  richness  of  the  co- 
lonial documents  and  old  Dutch  records  pre- 
served at  Albany,  he  determined  to  translate  and 
edit  this  valuable  material  on  the  early  history 
of  New  York  state.  In  1846  appeared  the  first 
volume  of  his  "History  of  New  Netherlands,  or 
New  York  Under  the  Dutch."  This  work,  which 
has  since  gone  through  several  editions,  marked 
an  epoch  in  historical  research  in  the  United 
States.  It  was  the  first  authentic  history  of  early 
New  York. 

For  some  years  O'Callaghan  was  attached 
to  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  state  at  Albany 
and  edited  the  records  embodied  in  the  fourteen 
volumes  of  "The  Documentary  History  of  the 
State  of  New  York,"  1849-51.  One  of  the  re- 
sults of  this  work  was  J.  R.  Brodhead's  mission 
to  consult  the  archives  of  the  chief  European 
countries  for  additional  material  on  the  colonial 
history  of  New  York.  O'Callaghan  was  request- 
ed to  edit  data  thus  secured,  and  he  did  so,  pro- 
ducing eleven  volumes  of  "Documents  Relative 
to  the  Colonial  History  of  the  State  of  New 
York"  (procured  in  Holland,  England  and 
France,  by  John  Romeyn  Brodhead,  Albany, 
1855).  These  may  well  serve  as  a  monument 
to  his  rare  skill  and  ability. 

In  1870  he  removed  to  New  York  City,  and 
there  undertook  the  translation  and  arrangement 
of  the  municipal  archives,  but  the  city  later  re- 
fused to   supply  the  requisite  money,  and   the 


136  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

work  was  discontinued.  He  died  in  New  York 
City,  May  27,  1880.  Among-  his  other  works  are: 
"Jesuit  Relations,"  1847;  "The  Register  of  New 
Netherland"  (1626  to  1674),  Albany,  1865:  "A 
Calendar  of  Historical  Manuscripts  in  the  Office 
of  the  Secretary  of  State,"  Albany,  1866;  "A 
List  of  Editions  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  Parts 
Thereof  Printed  in  America  Previous  to  1860, 
with  Notes,"  Albany,  1861,  and  "The  Voyage  of 
George  Clark  to  America,"  1867. 

O'Callaghan  was  a  member  of  the  Catholic 
Union  and  a  donor  to  St.  Mary's  Church  at  Al- 
bany. In  1846  he  was  made  honorary  M.  D.  by 
the  University  of  St.  Louis,  and  later  LL.  D.  bv 
St.  John's  College,  Fordham,  N.  Y. 

John  Daly  Burk 

John  Daly  Burk,  historian  and  dramatist, 
was  born  in  Ireland,  said  to  be  descended  from 
the  ancient  House  of  Clanricard.  He  received 
his  education  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  where 
his  republican  principles  made  him  obnoxious  to 
the  government.  He  came  to  America  in  1796. 
The  same  year  he  established  in  Boston,  Mass., 
a  paper  called  the  Polar  Star  and  Daily  Adver- 
tiser, which  was  discontinued  the  next  year, 
whereupon  he  removed  to  New  York  City.  Here 
he  began  the  publication  of  the  Time  Piece,  but 
being  arrested  under  the  sedition  law  for  pub- 
lishing a  libel,  he  removed  to  Petersburg,  Va., 
and  devoted  himself  to  literature  and  the  practice 
of  law. 

His  principal  works  are:  "Bethlem  Gabor," 
a  historical  novel;  "Bunker  Hill,"  a  tragedy: 
"History  of  the  Late  War  in  Ireland,"  Phila- 
delphia, 1799,  and  a  "History  of  Virginia  from 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  137 

Its  First  Settlement"  (three  volumes,  1804), 
down  to  the  commencement  of  the  revolutionary 
war.  Burk  was  killed  in  a  duel  with  Felix 
Coquebert  in  consequence  of  a  political  dispute, 
April  11,  1808.  His  son,  John  Junius,  born  in 
Virginia,  became  a  prominent  lawyer  and  subse- 
quently judge  of  the  State  Court  of  Louisiana. 
(See  a  Memoir  of  Burk  by  Charles  Campbell, 
Albany,  1868.) 

Ossian  or  Oisin 

Ossian,  or  Oisin,  the  heroic  poet  of  the  Gael, 
was  born  in  Ireland  in  the  third  century.  Al- 
though his  name  is  constantly  to  be  met  in  the 
legends  of  the  time,  there  is  very  little  definitely 
known  concerning  him.  In  Gaelic  story,  Ossian 
was  the  son  of  Finn  MacCool,  a  celebrated  hero, 
who  flourished  in  the  third  century,  A.  D.  Finn 
gathered  about  him  a  band  of  warriors  like  him- 
self, who  were  collectively  termed  the  Feni  or 
Fenians.  The  adventures  and  exploits  of  these 
heroes,  and  especially  of  the  principal  figures  in 
the  group, — of  Finn  himself,  magnanimous  and 
wise;  of  his  grandson  Oscar,  chivalrous  and  dar- 
ing; of  his  nephew  Dermot,  handsome  and 
brave;  of  his  rival  Goll,  the  one-eyed;  and  Conan, 
the  villain  of  the  band — their  jealousies,  dissen- 
sions, and  final  overthrow,  constitute  the  litera- 
ture of  the  Feni. 

Ossian  himself  fought  at  Gawra,  where  the 
Fenian  power  was  entirely  broken.  He  is  fabled 
after  the  battle  to  have  been  spirited  away  to  the 
land  of  perpetual  youth  and  not  to  have  appeared 
again  on  earth  until  the  days  of  St.  Patrick.  One 
of  the  Fenian  lays  (published  with  a  translation 
by  the  Ossianic  Society  in   1857)   gives  an  ac- 


138  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

count  of  his  interview  with  the  Saint,  his  longing 
for  the  great  pagan  past,  his  grief  at  the  loss  of 
his  heroic  Fenian  companions,  and  his  contempt 
for  the  new  religion  and  its  professors.  There 
are  two  earlier  cycles.  The  first  of  these  ex- 
tended from  unknown  antiquity  until  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Gael  in  Ireland. 

The  legends  of  this  period  preserve  tradi- 
tions of  the  old  divinities  of  the  race,  notably  the 
Tuatha  De  Danann,  under  the  guise  of  earlier 
colonists  whom  the  Gael  conquered  and  dis- 
placed. Several  tales  of  this  cycle  are  preserved, 
among  which  the  fate  of  the  Children  of  Turenn 
and  the  fate  of  the  Children  of  Lir  are  the  best 
known.  The  second,  and  perhaps  the  richest 
epoch  in  Gaelic  romance,  is  that  of  the  hero 
Cuchullin.  The  date  is  about  the  commencement 
of  the  Christian  era,  when  Conor  MacNessa 
ruled  Ulster  and  Queen  Meave  ruled  Connaught. 
The  great  literary  product  of  this  period  is  the 
Cattle  Spoil  of  Cooley,  the  Iliad  of  the  Gael. 

Eventually  the  legends  of  the  Feni  partly  ab- 
sorbed and  totally  eclipsed  the  earlier  traditions; 
so  the  Osslanic  literature  is  now  but  another 
name  for  the  heroic  literature  of  the  Gael.  These 
traditions  have  come  down  from  the  misty  past 
in  tale  and  ballad.  They  were  early  reduced  to 
writing,  and  as  time  goes  on  we  observe  great 
development  in  incident  and  detail.  The  leader 
of  the  Feni  is  at  one  time  a  god,  at  others  a  hero, 
a  king,  a  giant,  but  usually  a  great  warrior,  as 
wise  as  brave.  But  the  literary  forms  in  which 
the  legends  are  preserved  remains  practically  un- 
changed. A  Gaelic  tale  is  of  a  distinct  type — 
narrative  prose  with  verse  interspersed.  Gaelic 
poetry,  older  and  later,  is  ever  rhymed  lyric  verse. 

To  the  maiority  of  people  Ossian  is  known 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  139 

through  the  pubHcations  of  James  Macpherson, 
a  Scotch  writer.  In  1760-63  he  pubhshed 
"Fingal,"  an  epic  poem,  in  six  books;  *'Te- 
mora,"  another  epic,  in  eight  books;  with  a  num- 
ber of  shorter  pieces,  epic  and  dramatic — 
all  purporting  to  be  translations  of  poems  com- 
posed by  Ossian,  the  son  of  Fingal.  In  1780  Dr. 
Smith  of  Campbeltown  issued  a  volume  of  Sean 
Dana,  or  ancient  poems  composed  by  Ossian,  and 
in  1787  Baron  Edmund  de  Harold,  an  Irishman 
in  the  service  of  the  Elector  Palatine,  printed  at 
Dusseldorf  seventeen  so-called  Ossianic  poems 
in  English. 

The  genuineness  of  Macpherson's  Ossian 
was  early  called  in  question  by  Dr.  Johnson  and 
others.  It  is  maintained  that  Macpherson  had 
jumbled  together  persons  and  periods  to  an  un- 
warrantable extent;  that  his  originals,  so  far  as 
he  had  any,  were  not  Scottish,  but  Irish.  If  this 
were  all  that  could  be  said  one  would  feel  justi- 
fied in  regarding,  with  Professor  Windisch  of 
Leipzig,  Macpherson's  Ossian  as  a  legitimate  de- 
velopment of  the  old  traditions.  For  the  legends 
of  the  Feni  are  the  common  property  of  the  Gael, 
whether  in  Ireland,  Scotland,  or  Man.  It  is  no 
doubt  absurd  to  represent  Finn,  whom  Macpher- 
son, after  Barbour,  calls  Fingal,  as  a  mighty 
monarch,  at  one  time  successfully  fighting  the 
Roman  legions  in  the  third  century — at  another 
assisting  Cuchullin,  who  lived  in  the  beginning 
of  the  first  century,  to  expel  from  Ireland  the 
Norsemen,  who  made  their  appearance  for  the 
first  time  in  the  end  of  the  eighth.  According  to 
the  Gaelic  tale,  his  father,  Cool,  sets  up  as  king 
of  Alba,  and  the  kings  of  Ireland  and  Scandi- 
navia combine  to  effect  his  overthrow,  while  the 
son  is  ever  fighting  Norsemen. 


140  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Gaelic  literature  supplies  material  for  epics 
and  dramas,  but  the  epic  and  dramatic,  as  lit- 
erary forms,  were  unknown  to  the  people.  The 
dim  and  shadowy  characters  of  Macpherson  are 
in  sharp  contrast  to  the  clear-cut  features  of  the 
Gaelic  heroes.  Rarely  does  this  author  make  a 
definite  statement  of  fact;  but  when  he  does,  as 
when,  for  example,  he  arms  the  old  Gaels  with 
bows  and  arrows,  he  blunders  hopelessly.  In  the 
opening  of  Book  III.  of  Cathloda,  the  author 
inquires  regarding  the  origin  and  issue  of  things, 
but  he  is  indebted  for  his  answer  rather  to  Bishop 
Berkeley  than  to  the  son  of  Finn. 

The  only  Gaelic  printed  in  the  author's  life- 
time was  Temora,  Book  VII.  Ossian  was  pub- 
lished in  all  the  languages  of  Europe  before  he 
appeared  in  his  own.  And  when  at  length  the 
edition  of  1807  did  appear  there  were  Gaelic 
texts  for  only  one-half  of  the  poems,  and  for 
about  three-fourths  of  the  matter  published  by 
Macpherson  in  English  forty-five  years  previ- 
ously. For  the  others,  no  "original,"  ancient  or 
modern  has  ever  yet  been  found.  The  idioms 
and  constructions  are  colorless,  and  show  traces 
of  classical  training  rather  than  of  the  turns  of 
phrase  characteristic  of  native  authors.  The  ar- 
chaic orthography  of  the  seventh  book  of  Temora 
is  adduced  by  Dr.  Clark  of  Kilmall  as  proof  of 
the  antiquity  of  the  writing.  The  truth  seems  to 
be  that  these  so-called  translations  were  essen- 
tially the  compositions  of  James  Macpherson, 
and  that  the  Gaelic  texts  were  prepared  with  or 
without  aid  from  his  friends,  but  how  and  when 
we  do  not  know.  (See  the  poems  of  Ossian, 
1762-63;  Brook's  "Reliques  of  Gaelic  Poetry," 
1789,  "Ossian,"  1807;  "Transactions  of  the  Ossi- 
anic   Society   of   Dublin,"   6   volumes,    1854-61; 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  141 

"Dean  of  Lismore's  Book,"   1862,  and  Clerk's 
"Ossian,"  1870.) 

William  Allingham 

William  Allingham,  poet,  was  born  at  Bally- 
shannon,  County  Donegal,  March  19,  1824.  He 
entered  the  bank  with  which  his  father  was  con- 
nected at  the  age  of  thirteen,  and  strove  to  per- 
fect the  scanty  education  he  had  received  at  a 
boarding  school  by  a  vigorous  course  of  self- 
improvement.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  re- 
ceived an  appointment  in  the  customs,  success- 
fully exercised  for  several  years  at  Donegal, 
Ballyshannon,  and  other  towns  in  Ulster.  He 
nevertheless  paid  almost  annual  visits  to  London, 
the  first  in  1843,  about  which  time  he  contrib- 
uted to  Leigh  Hunt's  "Journal,"  and  in  1847  he 
made  the  personal  acquaintance  of  Leigh  Hunt, 
who  introduced  him  to  Carlyle  and  other  men 
of  letters. 

Through  Coventry  Patmore  he  became 
known  to  Tennyson  as  well  as  to  Rossetti.  The 
correspondence  of  Tennyson  and  Patmore  at- 
tests the  high  opinion  which  both  entertained  of 
the  poetical  promise  of  the  young  Irishman.  His 
first  volume,  entitled  simply  "Poems,"  published 
in  1850,  with  a  dedication  of  Leigh  Hunt,  was, 
nevertheless,  soon  withdrawn,  and  his  next  ven- 
ture, "Day  and  Night  Songs,"  though  reproduc- 
ing many  of  the  earlier  poems,  was  on  a  much 
more  restricted  scale.  Its  decided  success  justi- 
fied the  publication  of  a  second  edition  next  year, 
with  the  addition  of  a  new  title-piece,  "The 
Music  Master,"  an  idyllic  poem  which  had  ap- 
peared in  the  volume  of  1850,  but  had  undergone 
so  much  refashioning  as  to  have  become  almost 
a  new  work. 


142  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

A  second  series  of  "Day  and  Night  Songs" 
was  also  added.  The  volume  was  enriched  by 
seven  very  beautiful  wood-cuts  after  designs  by 
Arthur  Hughes,  as  well  as  one  by  Millais  and 
one  by  Rossetti,  which  rank  among  the  finest 
examples  of  the  work  of  these  artists  in  book 
illustration.  Allingham  was  at  this  time  on  very 
intimate  terms  with  Rossetti,  whose  letters  to 
him,  the  best  that  Rossetti  ever  wrote,  were  pub- 
lished by  Dr.  Birkbeck  Hill  in  the  "Atlantic 
Monthly"  for  1896.  Allingham  afterwards  dedi- 
cated a  volume  of  his  collected  works  to  the  mem- 
ory of  Rossetti,  "whose  friendship  brightened 
many  years  of  my  life,  and  whom  I  never  can 
forget."  Many  of  the  poems  in  this  collection 
obtained  a  wide  circulation  as  halfpenny  ballads. 

June  18,  1864,  he  obtained  a  pension  of  £60 
on  the  civil  list,  and  this  was  augmented  to  £  100, 
January  21,  1870.  In  1863  Allingham  was  trans- 
ferred from  Ballyshannon,  where  he  had  again 
officiated  since  1856,  to  the  customs  house  at  Ly- 
mington.  In  the  preceding  year  he  had  edited 
"Nightingale  Valley"  (reissued  in  1871  as 
"Choice  Lyrics  and  Short  Poems,  or  Nightingale 
Valley").  In  1864,  he  edited  "The  Ballad  Book" 
for  the  "Golden  Treasury"  series,  and  in  the 
same  year  appeared  "Laurence  Bloomfield  in  Ire- 
land," a  poem  of  considerable  length  in  the  heroic 
couplet,  evincing  careful  study  of  Goldsmith  and 
Crabbe,  and  regarded  by  himself  as  his  most  im- 
portant work. 

Another  reprint  from  "Fraser"  was  the 
"Rambles  of  Patriclus  Walker,"  lively  accounts 
of  pedestrian  tours,  which  appeared  in  book  form 
in  1873.  In  1865  he  published  "Fifty  Modern 
Poems,"  six  of  which  had  appeared  in  earlier  col- 
lections.      Except     for     "Songs,     Ballads     and 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  143 

Stories"  (1877),  chiefly  reprints,  and  an  occa- 
sional contribution  to  the  Athenaeum,  he  printed 
little  more  verse  until  the  definitive  collection  of 
his  poetical  works  in  six  volumes  (1888-93) ;  this 
edition  included  "Thought  and  Word,"  "An  Evil 
May-Day:  A  Religious  Poem,"  which  had  previ- 
ously appeared  in  a  limited  edition,  and  "Ashley 
Manor"  (an  unacted  play),  besides  an  entire  vol- 
ume of  short  poems  entitled  "Blackberries," 
which  had  been  previously  published  in  1884. 

In  1870,  Allingham  retired  from  the  civil 
service,  and  removed  to  London  as  sub-editor  of 
"Fraser's  Magazine,"  of  which  he  became  editor 
four  years  later.  August  22,  1874,  he  married 
Miss  Helen  Paterson,  known  under  her  wedded 
name  as  a  distinguished  water-color  painter.  He 
conducted  the  magazine  with  much  ability.  His 
editorship  was  made  memorable  by  the  publica- 
tion in  the  magazine  of  Carlyle's  "Early  Kings 
of  Norway,"  given  to  him  as  a  mark  of  regard  by 
Carlyle,  whom  he  frequently  visited.  After  the 
termination  of  his  connection  with  "Eraser,"  in 
1879,  he  took  up  his  residence  in  Surrey,  whence 
in  1888  he  removed  to  Hampstead  with  a  view 
to  the  education  of  his  children.  His  health  was 
already  much  impaired  by  the  effects  of  a  fall 
from  horseback,  and  he  died  about  a  year  after 
his  settlement  at  Lyndhurst  Road,  Hampstead, 
November  18,  1889.  His  remains  were  cremated 
at  Woking. 

Allingham  was  an  excellent  poet,  simple, 
clear  and  graceful,  with  a  distinct,  though  not  ob- 
trusive, individuality.  His  best  work  is  concen- 
trated in  his  "Day  and  Night  Songs"  (1854), 
which,  whether  pathetic  or  sportive,  whether  ex- 
pressing feeling  or  depicting  scenery,  whether 
upborne  by  simple  melody  or  embodying  truth 


144  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

in  symbol,  always  fulfil  the  intention  of  the 
author  and  achieve  the  character  of  works  of  art. 
Two  portraits,  one  representing  Allingham  in 
middle,  the  other  in  later  life,  are  reproduced  in 
the  collected  edition  of  his  poems.  A  collection 
of  prose  works  entitled  "Varieties  in  Prose"  was 
posthumously  published  in  three  volumes  in 
1893. 

Edmund  O'Donovan 

Edmund  O'Donovan,  war  correspondent, 
was  born  at  Dublin,  September  13,  1844,  son  of 
Dr.  John  O'Donovan,  the  eminent  Irish  scholar. 
Edmund  was  educated  at  St.  Francis  Xavier's 
College  and  at  the  Royal  College  of  Science,  Dub- 
lin. He  subsequently  studied  medicine  at  Trin- 
ity College,  but  never  graduated.  He  began  his 
journalistic  career  by  contributions  to  the  Irish 
Times  and  other  Dublin  papers.  From  1866  to 
1870  he  made  several  journeys  to  France  and  the 
United  States,  and,  while  in  this  country,  con- 
tinued his  medical  studies  at  New  York  City. 

When  the  Franco-German  war  broke  out  he 
joined  the  French  army,  took  part  in  the  battles 
around  Orleans,  was  wounded  and  made  pris- 
oner. While  confined  at  Straubing,  in  Bavaria, 
he  gave  the  account  of  his  experiences  to  several 
Dublin  and  London  papers.  He  went  to  Spain 
during  the  Carlist  rising  of  1873,  and  his  let- 
ters were  published  in  the  London  Times  and 
London  Hour. 

When  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  rose  against 
the  Turks  in  1876  he  went  to  the  seat  of  war  as 
correspondent  of  the  London  Daily  News,  and 
the  following  year  went  to  Asia  Minor  as  repre- 
sentative of  the  same  paper  during  the  war  be- 
tween Russia  and  Turkey. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  145 

In  1879,  as  representative  of  the  London 
Daily  News,  O'Donovan  undertook  his  famous 
journey  to  Merv — a  most  daring  and  perilous 
feat.  After  remaining  some  time  with  the  Rus- 
sian advanced  posts  on  the  southeastern  shores 
of  the  Caspian  sea,  he  traveled  through  Khoras- 
san,  and  finally,  with  great  difficulty,  accompa- 
nied by  two  native  servants,  he  penetrated  to 
Merv.  Suspected  by  the  Turcomans  of  being  an 
emissary  of  the  Russians,  he  was  for  several 
months  not  permitted  to  leave  and  in  danger  of 
death  at  any  time,  with  no  prospects  of  release. 
He  finally  managed  to  send  a  message  to  John 
Robinson,  manager  of  the  Daily  News,  explain- 
ing his  position,  and  immediate  steps  were  taken 
to  effect  his  release.  But  meanwhile,  by  his  own 
courage  and  diplomacy,  he  succeeded  in  extricat- 
ing himself  from  this  perilous  position. 

On  returning  to  London  he  was  received 
with  enthusiasm,  and  in  1882  O'Donovan  de- 
scribed his  experiences  in  a  work  entitled  "The 
Merv  Oasis — Travels  and  Adventures  East  of 
the  Caspian  During  the  Years  1879,  1880  and 
1881."  The  work  is  skillfully  written,  and  his 
courage  and  ingenious  resources  merit  warm 
admiration. 

O'Donovan  went  to  the  Soudan  in  1883, 
again  as  representative  of  the  Daily  News,  and 
attached  himself  to  the  army  of  Hicks  Pasha  on 
its  march  to  Obeid.  November  3,  1883,  the  army 
fell  into  an  ambush  and  was  annihilated.  No 
news  was  ever  received  of  O'Donovan's  fate,  but 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  perished  with  the 
rest.  Probate  of  his  will,  however,  was  not 
granted  until  eight  years  later,  as  there  was  a 
hope  among  some  that  he  might  yet  be  alive. 
O'Donovan  was  a  tall,  fine-looking  man,  very 


146  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

g-enial  and  popular.  With  a  restless  spirit  and 
striking  courage,  he  was  ever  in  search  of  ad- 
venture. He  was  a  good  linguist,  speaking  sev- 
eral languages,  had  a  knowledge  of  medicine, 
was  a  fair  draughtsman,  and  a  good  surveyor. 


Richard  Robert  Madden 

BY  WILLIAM  DILLON 

Richard  Robert  Madden,  physician,  poli- 
tician and  writer,  was  born  in  Dublin,  August 
22,  1798,  the  youngest  son  of  Edward  Madden,  a 
silk  manufacturer  of  that  city.  My  maternal 
grandmother,  Mrs.  Hart  (born  Teresa  O'Hara), 
was  born  in  the  same  year  as  Dr.  Madden.  The 
O'Hara  and  Madden  families  lived  near  one 
another  in  the  city  of  Dublin.  The  young  people 
of  both  families  were  much  together,  and  hence 
it  came  about  that  Dr.  Madden  and  my  grand- 
mother formed  in  their  early  youth  a  friendship 
which  lasted  through  life. 

Young  Madden  was  educated  In  a  private 
school  in  Dublin,  and  studied  medicine  in  Paris, 
Naples  and  London.  From  1824  to  1827  he  trav- 
eled in  the  Levant,  returning  to  England  in  1828. 
The  following  year  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  College  of  Surgeons,  and  made  a  fellow  in 
1855.  In  1833  he  was  sent  to  Jamaica  as  one  of 
the  special  magistrates  appointed  to  abolish  slav- 
ery on  the  plantations.  His  zeal  in  behalf  of 
emancipation  was  met  with  bitter  opposition  by 
the  planters  of  his  district  and  the  supporters  of 
the  system  in  England,  and  he  resigned  in  No- 
vember, 1834.  After  a  tour  of  the  American  con- 
tinent he  returned  to  England,  and,  in  1836,  was 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  147 

made  superintendent  of  liberated  Africans  and 
judge  arbitrator  in  the  mixed  court  of  commis- 
sion, at  Havana,  Cuba.  He  remained  there  until 
1840,  when  he  accompanied  Sir  M.  Montefiore 
on  his  philanthropic  mission  to  Egypt. 

In  1841  he  was  appointed  special  commis- 
sioner to  investigate  the  slave  traffic  on  the  west 
coast  of  Africa  and  exposed  the  iniquitous 
method  known  as  the  "pawn  system,"  which 
amounted  to  slavery  under  disguise.  From  1843 
to  1846  he  was  special  correspondent  of  the  Lon- 
don Morning  Chronicle  at  Lisbon,  and  in  1847 
was  appointed  colonial  secretary  of  Western 
Australia.  Returning  to  Ireland  in  1848,  on  fur- 
lough, he  resigned  his  Australian  office  two  years 
later,  in  order  to  accept  the  secretaryship  of  the 
Loan  Fund  Board  in  Dublin  Castle.  This  office 
he  held  until  1880. 

As  an  author  he  is  best  known  by  his  work 
entitled  "The  United  Irishmen — Their  Lives  and 
Times"  (1845-46,  new  edition  1874),  a  work  of 
great  importance,  giving  in  detail  the  causes  and 
events  that  led  to  the  rebellion  of  1798;  also  an 
authoritative  account  of  the  principal  actors  in 
that  memorable  struggle. 

Among  his  other  publications  are:  "Trav- 
els in  Turkev,  Egvpt,  Nubia  and  Palestine  in 
1824-27,"  1829;  "The  Mussulman"  (a  novel), 
1830;  "The  Infirmities  of  Genius,"  1833;  "Twelve 
Months'  Residence  in  the  West  Indies,  During 
the  Transition  from  Slavery  to  Apprenticeship," 
1835;  "The  Slave  Trade  and  Slavery,"  1843; 
"Connection  of  the  Kingdom  of  Ireland  with  the 
Crown  of  England,"  1845;  "History  of  the  Penal 
Laws  Enacted  Against  Roman  Catholics,"  1847; 
"The  Island  of  Cuba — Its  Resources,  Progress 
and  Prospects,"  1849;  "Shrines  and  Sepulchres 


148  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

of  the  Old  and  the  New  World,"  1851 ;  "The  Life 
and  Martyrdom  of  Savonarola,"  1853;  "The  Lit- 
erary Life  and  Correspondence  of  the  Countess 
of  Blessington,"  1855;  "The  Turkish  Empire  in 
Its  Relation  with  Christianity  and  Civilization," 
1862,  and  "History  of  Irish  Periodical  Literature 
from  the  End  of  the  Seventeenth  to  the  Middle 
of  the  Nineteenth  Century,"  1867. 

Dr.  Madden  was  a  member  of  the  Royal  Irish 
Academy  and  a  corresponding  member  of  the 
Society  of  Medical  Science.  He  was  a  zealous 
Catholic  and  an  ardent  and  patriotic  supporter 
of  the  interests  of  Ireland.  He  married  Harriet 
Elmslie,  of  Jamaica,  in  1828,  by  whom  he  had 
three  sons. 

As  a  boy,  and  afterwards  as  a  young  man, 
I  knew  Dr.  Madden  very  well,  and  used  to  see 
him  frequently.  Having  traveled  much,  he  was 
a  most  interesting  talker.  I  can  clearly  remem- 
ber how  I  used  to  listen  with  delight  as  he  talked 
to  my  grandmother  or  to  my  father  or  mother, 
and  gave  an  account  of  some  of  his  varied  ex- 
periences. He  was  very  tall,  about  six  feet  two 
or  three  inches,  and  quite  a  handsome  man.  I 
have  heard  my  grandmother  say  that  he  im- 
proved with  age  and  was  handsomer  in  after  life 
than  he  had  been  as  a  young  man.  I  left  Ireland 
in  December,  1879.  Dr.  Madden  was  then  over 
eighty  years  of  age,  but  he  was  still  quite  vigor- 
ous and  in  full  possession  of  his  mental  faculties. 
Dr.  Madden  died  at  his  home  near  Dublin,  Feb- 
ruary 5,  1886,  and  was  buried  in  Donnybrook 
cemetery. 

Mayne  Reid 

Captain  Mayne  Reid  (originally  Thomas 
Mayne  Reid),  writer  of  boys'  stories  and  soldier 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  149 

of  fortune,  was  born  at  Ballyroney,  County 
Down,  in  April,  1818.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he 
was  sent  to  college  to  prepare  for  the  ministry, 
but,  disliking  that  profession,  at  twenty  he  emi- 
grated to  America,  where  he  led  a  roving  and  ad- 
venturous life,  trading  and  hunting  with  the 
trappers  and  Indians  along  the  Red  and  Missouri 
rivers.  He,  in  turn,  became  storekeeper,  negro 
overseer,  schoolmaster,  actor  and  journalist. 

In  1843  he  settled  in  Philadelphia,  devoted 
his  time  to  literature,  and  became  the  friend  of 
Edgar  Allan  Poe.  When  the  Mexican  war  broke 
out  he  obtained  a  commission  in  a  New  York  vol- 
unteer regiment  and  sailed  for  Vera  Cruz,  in  De- 
cember, 1846.  He  distinguished  himself  at  the 
storming  of  Chapultepec,  where  he  was  severely 
wounded.  Returning  to  the  United  States  in 
1848,  he  remained  in  Ohio  until  the  next  year, 
when  he  sailed  for  Europe,  intending  to  assist 
the  Hungarians  in  their  struggle  for  indepen- 
dence, but  was  too  late  to  render  any  assistance 
before  their  subjection  was  accomplished,  and 
their  leader,  Kossuth,  forced  to  fly  to  Turkey. 

He  then  settled  down  to  a  literary  life,  first 
at  London  and  later  in  Buckinghamshire,  where 
he  began  the  publication  of  those  marvelous  tales 
which  made  him  famous.  The  truthfulness  of 
his  scenery  and  his  excellent  narrative  style  have 
often  been  overlooked  by  his  breathless  readers, 
whom  he  delighted  with  a  profusion  of  hair- 
breadth escapes  and  desperate  adventures. 
Among  his  best  known  works  are  "The  Rifle 
Rangers"  (1850),  "The  Scalp  Hunters"  (1851), 
"The  Boy  Hunters"  (1853),  "The  Bush  Boys" 
(1856),  "The  War  Trail"  (1857),  and  "The 
Headless  Horseman"  (1866). 

He  returned  to  the  United  States,  in  1867, 


150  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

and  began  the  publication  of  the  Onward  maga- 
zine, but  after  fourteen  months  it  was  aban- 
doned, owing  to  his  ill  health,  and  he  returned 
to  England.  He  died  October  22,  1883,  and  was 
buried  at  Kensal  Green  cemetery,  near  London. 
(See  "A  Memoir  of  His  Life,"  by  his  widow, 
London,  1890,  for  a  full  list  of  his  works.) 

John  Zephaniah  Holwell 

John  Zephaniah  Holwell,  a  writer  on  Indian 
affairs,  was  born  in  Dublin,  in  September,  1711. 
He  went  to  India  in  1732  as  a  surgeon,  and  in 
1736  became  a  member  of  the  Court  of  Calcutta. 
In  1756  he  defended  Fort  William,  Calcutta, 
against  Surajah  Dowla,  Nabob  of  Bengal,  but 
was  obliged  to  surrender  on  the  20th  of  June, 
after  a  gallant  defense.  He  and  one  hundred  and 
forty-six  companions  were,  the  evening  of  the 
surrender,  shut  in  the  memorable  "Black-hole" 
of  Calcutta,  a  room  some  twenty  feet  square, 
where  the  wretched  prisoners  soon  became  fran- 
tic with  suffocating  heat  and  insufferable  thirst. 
But  twenty-three  survived  a  night's  confinement. 
They  were  liberated  from  captivity  by  Clive  a 
few  months  afterwards.  It  is  from  Holwell's 
narrative  we  learn  the  particulars  of  this  im- 
prisonment. In  after  years  he  raised  a  monu- 
ment at  his  own  expense  to  his  fellow-prisoners 
who  died  in  the  Black-hole.  After  a  short  visit 
to  England,  he  succeeded  Clive,  in  1758,  as  Gov- 
ernor of  Bengal,  in  which  office  he  was  super- 
seded about  the  end  of  1760.  He  died  in  Eng- 
land, November  5,  1798.  In  his  various  works  he 
treated  especially  of  some  of  the  native  systems 
of  religion — believing  them  to  be  of  divine  orig-in. 
His  principal  books  are:    "Indian  Tracts,"  1764; 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  151 

"Historical  Events  Relative  to  Bengal  and  Indo- 
stan,"  and  "Mythology  of  the  Gentoos,"  1765-71. 

Julia  Kavanagh 

Julia  Kavanagh,  novelist  and  biographer, 
was  born  at  Thurles,  in  1824.  Her  parents  early 
removed  to  Paris,  where  she  gained  that  minute 
insight  into  French  life  displayed  in  her  works. 
In  1844  she  went  to  London,  and  embraced  lit- 
erature as  a  profession.  Her  first  work,  "The 
Three  Paths,"  a  tale  for  children,  was  published 
in  1847;  and  in  1850,  "Woman  in  France  During 
the  Eighteenth  Century,"  perhaps  her  best 
known  work,  appeared.  She  traveled  through 
France,  Germany  and  Switzerland,  and  works  of 
travel,  fiction  and  general  literature  flowed  from 
her  pen.  Among  her  other  works  are:  "Made- 
leine," 1848.  a  tale  from  real  life;  a  romance, 
"Nathalie,"  1851;  "Women  of  Christianity  Ex- 
emplary for  Acts  of  Piety  and  Charity,"  1852, 
and  "Daisy  Burns"  (a  novel),  1853.  Many  of 
her  novels  passed  through  more  than  one  edition, 
and  were  reprinted  in  America.  Her  writings 
are  remarkable  for  their  delineation  of  charac- 
ter and  graceful  simplicity  of  style.  She  was 
subjected  to  severe  attacks  of  neuralgia  the  lat- 
ter years  of  her  life,  and  died  at  Nice,  October 
28,  1877.  Her  portrait  by  Chanet  is  in  the  Na- 
tional Gallery  of  Ireland. 

John  Francis  Maguire 

John  Francis  Maguire,  politician  and  writer, 
the  son  of  a  merchant  in  Cork,  was  born  about 
1815.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Irish  bar  in  1843, 
was  member  of  Parliament  for  Dungarvan  from 


152  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

1852  to  1865,  and  for  Cork  from  that  date  until 
his  death.  He  actively  supported  the  Liberal 
party,  especially  in  its  legislation  regarding  the 
disestablishment  of  the  church,  and  the  land 
question.  It  was  known  that  he  was  not  in  af- 
fluent circumstances,  and  it  was  expected  that  he 
would  soon  be  offered  a  government  position  of 
some  description,  so  that  his  sincerity  was  strik- 
ingly shown  in  1870,  when  he  joined  the  Home 
Rule  party,  led  by  Isaac  Butt,  and  thereby  sacri- 
ficed all  his  prospects  of  an  official  career.  A 
series  of  articles  on  the  question  of  Home  Rule, 
which  appeared  in  his  paper,  the  Cork  Examiner, 
was  published  in  a  collected  form  in  1871. 

Maguire  was  the  author  of  "Rome  and  Its 
Ruler,"  1857;  "Life  of  Father  Mathew,"  1862; 
"Irish  in  America,"  1868;  "The  Next  Genera- 
tion" (a  novel),  1871,  and  other  works.  He  was 
a  brilliant  narrator,  was  a  prominent  advocate  of 
woman  suffrage,  and  for  his  defense  of  the  posi- 
tion of  the  Pope  was  created  a  Knight  Com- 
mander of  St.  Gregory.  He  died  near  Cork,  No- 
vember 1,  1872.  His  character  for  earnestness 
and  sincerity  stood  high. 

Jonah  Barrington 

Sir  Jonah  Barrington  was  born  in  1760,  the 
fourth  of  sixteen  children  of  John  Barrington  of 
Knapton,  near  Abbeyleix,  Queens  County.  His 
pleasing  presence,  lively  conversation,  talents, 
and  pushing  activity  contributed  largely  to  his 
advance  in  public  life.  He  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1788,  and  two  years  afterwards,  as  mem- 
ber for  Tuam,  he  entered  Parliament,  where,  he 
says,  "T  directed  my  earliest  efforts  against 
Grattan  and  Curran,  and  on  the  first  day  of  my 


SIR   JONAH  T^\R1^;T.     .TON 


IS« 


IRISH  nror 


1852  to  1865,  an  '  ' 
his  death.      He  . 
party,  especially  in 
disestablishment   oS 
question.     It  v/ms  k 
fluent  circunv 
would  soon  i 
some  descripi 
ingly  shown 
Rule  party,  ^• 
ficed  all  his 
series  of  a 
which  ap] 
was  publi; 
Magii 
Ruler,"  U. 
"Irish  irv:^fprr/  ■ 
tion"  (a  nov 
a  brilliant  '^^   ' 
woman  su 
tion  of  the 
mander  of  Si 
vember  1,  18 
and  sincerity 


aate  until 
;-o   Liberal 
rding  the 
;    the   land 
not  in  af- 
vd  that  he 
{position  of 
was  strik- 
joined  the  Home 
■  '  thereby  sacri- 
ial  career.     A 
n  of  Home  Rule, 
"^ork  Examiner, 
in  1871. 
Rome  and  Its 
-ew,"  1862; 
•r^  Genera- 
;      He  was 
;  vut  advocate  of 
efense  of  the  posi- 
d  a  Knight  Com- 
bed near  Cork,  No- 
cr  for  earnestness 


jiptnn 


Sir  J. 
fourth  of 
Knapton, 
pleasing  ]. 
and  pUvShing 
advance  in  p 
bar  in  Vm,  :..  .. 
ber  for  Tuam,  b- 
says,    "T    directed    i 
Grattan  and  Curran 


.1  in  1760,  the 

Harrington  of 

County.     His 

ation,  talents, 

:  largely  to  his 

admitted  to  the 

T wards,  as  mem- 

;ament,  where,  he 

t    efforts    against 

iie  first  day  of  my 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  153 

rising  exhibited  a  specimen  of  what  I  may  now 
call  true  arrogance."  He  was  rewarded  by  gov- 
ernment for  his  arrogance,  in  1793,  by  a  sinecure 
in  the  Custom-house,  worth  £  1,000  a  year,  and  a 
silk  gown.  He  lost  his  seat  in  1798,  but  sat  for 
Bannagher  in  1799.  He  boldly  voted  against  the 
union,  though  it  deprived  him  of  his  sinecure  and 
stopped  his  further  advancement.  Nevertheless, 
most  inconsistently,  he  acted  as  government  pro- 
curer for  bribing  at  least  one  member  to  vote 
for  it. 

In  1803  he  was  an  unsuccessful  candidate 
for  the  city  of  Dublin  in  the  Imperial  Parliament, 
although  Grattan,  Curran,  Ponsonby  and  Plun- 
ket  voted  for  him.  The  government  now 
thought  he  was  worth  buying  again,  and  accord- 
ingly made  him  judge  in  the  Admiralty  Court, 
and  knighted  him.  In  1809  he  published,  in  five 
parts,  the  first  volume  of  the  "Historic  Memoirs 
of  Ireland."  It  is  thought  that  he  was  induced  to 
delay  the  second  volume — the  government 
shrinking  from  the  exposure  of  their  conduct  in 
carrying  the  union,  and  it  was  understood  that 
to  purchase  his  silence  he  was  permitted  to  re- 
side in  France  from  about  1815,  and  act  as  judge 
by  deputy. 

In  1827  he  published  two  volumes  of  "Per- 
sonal Sketches  of  His  Own  Time."  In  1830,  by 
an  address  from  both  houses  of  Parliament,  he 
was  removed  from  the  bench,  in  consequence  of 
well-proven  misappropriation  of  public  moneys. 
In  1833  appeared  the  third  volume  of  "Personal 
Sketches,"  and  in  the  same  year  the  delayed  vol- 
ume of  his  "Historic  Memoirs."  This  book  was 
subsequently  reproduced  in  a  cheaper  form  as 
"The  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Irish  Nation."  His 
works  are  interesting,  racy,  and  valuable,  con- 


154  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

taining  much  of  personal  incident,  related  in  a 
fascinating  style.  He  died  at  Versailles,  April 
8,  1834. 

Michael  O'Clery 

Michael  O'Clery,  the  chief  compiler  of  the 
Irish  Annals,  commonly  called  "The  Annals  of 
the  Four  Masters,"  was  born  in  the  parish  of 
Kilbarron,  near  Ballyshannon,  County  Donegal, 
about  the  year  1575.  He  was  descended  from  a 
learned  family  who  had  been  for  centuries  heredi- 
tary historians  of  the  O'Donnells,  princes  of  Tir- 
connell.  He  was  a  lay  brother  of  the  Franciscan 
order,  and  originally  had  borne  the  name  of 
Teige  of  the  Mountain,  but  on  his  admission  to 
the  order  of  St.  Francis  he  assumed  that  of 
Michael. 

Soon  after  joining  his  order  at  Louvain,  he 
was  sent  to  Ireland  by  his  countryman,  the 
learned  Hugh  Ward,  to  collect  manuscripts  and 
documents,  for  the  purpose  of  rescuing  the  an- 
nals and  antiquities  of  his  country  from  the  com- 
parative oblivion  into  which  they  had  fallen. 
O'Clery,  who  was  skilled  in  the  Irish  language 
and  eminently  qualified  for  the  task,  pursued  his 
research  for  many  years,  during  which  time  he 
visited  the  best  Irish  scholars  then  living,  and 
transcribed  from  ancient  manuscripts  many  lives 
of  Irish  saints,  genealogies,  martyrologies,  and 
other  literary  monuments.  All  this  material  he 
transmitted  to  Hugh  Ward  in  1635,  who,  how- 
ever, did  not  live  to  avail  himself  of  them;  but 
they  proved  of  great  use  to  the  Rev.  John  Col- 
gan,  jubilate  lecturer  of  theology  at  Louvain, 
who  took  up  the  same  subject  after  the  death  of 
Ward. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  155 

During  O'Clery's  stay  in  Ireland  he  com- 
piled the  following  works:  "A  Catalogue  of  the 
Kings  of  Ireland,  and  the  Irish  Calendar  of 
Saints'  Days";  ''The  Book  of  Conquests";  and 
"The  Annals  of  Ireland,"  called  "The  Annals  of 
the  Four  Masters,"  as  he  and  his  assistants — 
Peregrine  O'Clery,  Conary  O'Clery  and  Pere- 
grine O'Duigenan,  a  learned  antiquary  of  Kilro- 
nan — were  named.  He  also  had  help  from  two 
members  of  the  old  and  learned  family  of  the 
O'Mulconrys,  hereditary  historians  of  the  kings 
of  Connaught.  In  the  "Testimonials"  prefixed  to 
the  work  it  is  stated  that  it  was  entirely  com- 
posed in  the  monastery  of  the  Franciscan 
Brothers  of  Donegal,  who  supplied  the  necessary 
requirements  of  the  transcribers  while  their  la- 
bors were  in  progress.  Fergal  O'Gara,  a  mem- 
ber for  Sligo  in  the  Parliament  of  1634,  is  also 
said  to  have  liberally  rewarded  O'Clery's  assist- 
ants, while  it  was  his  advice  and  influence  that 
prevailed  on  O'Clery  to  bring'  them  together  and 
proceed  with  the  work.  The  first  volume  was 
started  January  22,  1632,  and  the  last  finished 
August  10,  1636. 

After  the  completion  of  the  "Annals  of  the 
Four  Masters,"  O'Clery  returned  to  Louvain, 
where,  in  1643,  he  published  a  glossary  of  diffi- 
cult and  obsolete  Irish  words,  which  Lloyd  em- 
bodied in  his  Irish  dictionary.  He  died  at  Lou- 
vain, in  1643.  The  first  complete  printed  edi- 
tion of  the  "Annals  of  the  Four  Masters"  (the 
Irish  original,  with  an  English  translation  and 
ample  notes),  was  issued  by  Dr.  John  O'Dono- 
van,  at  Dublin,  in  seven  quarto  volumes,  in  1851, 
being  the  main  source  of  information,  and,  per- 
haps, the  most  important  single  contribution  ever 
made  to  the  study  of  Irish  history.     The  "An- 


156  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

nals"  begin  long  before  the  Christian  era  and 
continue  down  to  A.  D.  1616.  An  English  trans- 
lation of  the  *'Annals"  from  1172  to  1616  made 
by  Owen  Connellan  from  a  copy  of  the  auto- 
graph in  the  Royal  Irish  Academy,  with  exten- 
sive notes  by  Dr.  MacDermott,  was  pubhshed 
in  Dublin  in  1846. 

Michael  O'Clery's  life  was  one  disinterested 
devotion  to  Gaelic  learning.  He  regretted  the 
ruin  of  the  ancient  families  and  religious  houses, 
but  never  complained  of  his  own  discomforts  or 
boasted  of  his  performances.  His  only  reward 
for  long  and  faithful  service  was  the  esteem  of 
every  friend  of  Irish  learning. 

Donough  O'Brien 

Donough  O'Brien,  King  of  Munster,  son  of 
Brian  Boru,  was  away  during  the  battle  of  Clon- 
tarf,  April  23,  1014,  but  returning  immediately 
afterwards,  although  the  youngest  surviving  son 
of  Brian,  he  assumed  command  of  the  Dalcas- 
sians,  and  prepared  to  return  to  Thomond.  At 
Mullaghmast,  Donough  and  his  brother  Teige 
w^ere  opposed  by  their  relative  Cian,  one  of  the 
chiefs  of  the  Eugenian  line,  who  demanded  that 
Donough  should  resign  the  crown.  The  dif- 
ference was  adjusted  through  the  intervention  of 
Donald,  chief  of  the  O'Donoghues.  The  Dalcas- 
sians  had  not  proceeded  much  farther  on  their 
way  home  when  they  were  attacked  by  Fitz- 
Patrick,  Chief  of  Upper  Ossory,  who  thought  the 
death  of  Brian  a  favorable  opportunity  to  re- 
nounce his  dependency  on  Munster,  and  to  de- 
mand hostages. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  157 

According  to  legend,  this  treachery  so  en- 
raged Donoiigh's  army  that  even  the  wounded 
demanded  to  be  tied  to  stakes  interspersed 
amongst  their  comrades  to  assist  in  opposing 
FitzPatrick's  onset.  This  bold  front  so  intimi- 
dated the  men  of  Ossory  that  they  refused  to 
attack,  and  confined  their  hostilities  to  cutting 
off  a  few  stragglers.  Donough  had  scarcely  set- 
tled at  home  when  he  was  obliged  to  repel  the  in- 
cursions of  the  neighboring  chiefs.  In  1016  Kin- 
cora  and  Killaloe  were  demolished  by  the  men 
of  Connaught.  Some  years  later  Donough  and 
Teige  fought  between  themselves;  the  former 
was  defeated,  and  shortly  afterwards,  in  1023, 
procured  the  assassination  of  Teige. 

After  Malachy's  death,  the  same  year,  Don- 
ough advanced  pretensions  to  the  supreme  power 
in  Ireland,  and  the  country  was  devastated  by 
apparently  aimless  wars,  in  which  Donough  and 
his  nephew  Turlough,  son  of  Teige,  figured  on 
opposite  sides.  Eventually  Donough  was  de- 
feated, and,  according  to  the  annals  of  Clanmac- 
nois,  retired  to  Rome,  where  he  died,  in  1064. 

Turlough  O'Brien 

Turlough  O'Brien,  King  of  Munster,  nephew 
of  Donough,  son  of  Brian  Boru,  was  born  about 
1009,  and  upon  the  defeat  of  his  uncle,  Donough, 
assumed  the  sovereignty.  In  1067  he  and  his 
allies  marched  against  Connaught,  but  were 
caught  in  an  ambush  and  defeated.  Next  year 
Turlough  was  without  a  competitor,  his  cousin, 
Murrough,  having  been  killed  in  a  predatory  ex- 
cursion into  Tefifia.  In  1073  he  made  prepara- 
tions to  reduce  Ulster  to  obedience,  but  was  de- 
feated near  Ardee.    Better  fortune  awaited  him 


158  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

in  1076,  when  he  invaded  Connaught  and  com- 
pelled the  submission  of  Roderic  O'Conor. 

October  29,  1084,  his  son  Murtough,  with 
several  allies,  including  the  Danes  of  Dublin, 
fought  an  indecisive  battle  with  the  opposing 
Munstermen  in  Leinster.  Four  thousand  were 
left  dead  on  the  field,  including  many  princes  of 
the  O'Brien  blood.  In  1085  Turlough  led  a  suc- 
cessful incursion  into  Ulster.  Fle  died  at  Kin- 
cora,  in  1086.  He  was  twice  married — to  a  prin- 
cess of  Ely,  and  to  a  daughter  of  the  prince  of 
Ossory.  Turlough  O'Brien  is  said  to  have  pre- 
sented to  William  Rufus  the  oak  with  which  the 
roof  of  Westminster  Hall  is  constructed. 

Murtough  O'Brien 

Murtough  O'Brien,  King  of  Munster,  suc- 
ceeded his  father,  Turlough,  in  1086.  He  sig- 
nalized his  accession  by  ravaging  the  territories 
of  such  of  the  surrounding  chiefs  as  were  ob- 
noxious to  him.  He  defeated  the  men  of  Lein- 
ster and  the  Danes  of  Dublin  at  Rathedair,  near 
Howth,  in  1087.  This  victory  was  counterbal- 
anced next  year  by  the  invasion  of  Thomond. 
Roderic  O'Conor  marched  into  Munster  and  took 
possession  of  an  island  in  the  Shannon,  from 
which  Murtough  in  vain  endeavored  to  dislodge 
him. 

Murtough  was  also  assailed  by  Donald  Mac- 
Loughlin,  Prince  of  Aileach,  who,  with  O'Conor, 
entered  Munster,  burned  Limerick,  and  laid 
waste  the  country  as  far  as  Emly,  Lough  Gur, 
and  Bruree.  They  then  demolished  Kincora,  and 
returned  home  with  hundreds  of  prisoners,  both 
Irish  and  Danish.  In  1089  Murtough  made  re- 
prisals   in   Connaught,   but   had   ultimately   to 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  159 

waive  his  pretensions  to  the  crown  of  Ireland, 
and  rest  satisfied  with  his  position  as  a  provin- 
cial king.  A  conference  was  held  in  1090,  and  it 
was  agreed  by  O'Brien  and  O'Conor  to  acknowl- 
edge O'Melaghlin  as  monarch;  yet,  soon  after- 
wards, war  was  renewed.  In  1101  the  suprem- 
acy of  Murtough  O'Brien  was  recognized.  It 
was  about  this  time  that  he  made  a  grant  of  the 
royal  residence  of  Cashel  to  the  Church.  A  con- 
test between  Murtough  and  Magnus,  King  of 
Norway,  who  arrived  off  the  Irish  coast  with  a 
large  fleet,  was  averted  by  Murtough  giving  his 
daughter,  with  a  large  dowry,  to  Sigfried,  son 
of  Magnus. 

In  1114  ill  health  obliged  Murtough  to  re- 
sign the  sceptre  to  his  brother  Dermot  for  a  time. 
Murtough  O'Brien  died  March  11,  1119,  and  was 
buried  at  Killaloe.  The  character  of  this  prince 
ranks  high,  not  only  among  the  chroniclers  of 
his  own  nation  and  time,  but  also  among  con- 
temporary writers  in  England.  Malmesbury 
says  that  he  was  held  in  such  respect  by  the 
English  king,  Henry  I.,  that  the  latter  frequently 
availed  himself  of  the  wisdom  and  advice  of  Mur- 
tough. His  reign  appears  as  a  career  of  perse- 
vering energy,  unnerved  by  defeat,  and  only  stim- 
ulated by  reverses  to  still  greater  efforts. 

Donald  O'Brien 

Donald  O'Brien,  King  of  Munster,  succeed- 
ed to  the  throne  about  1167.  On  the  advent  of 
the  Anglo-Normans  he  turned  against  the  mon- 
arch Roderic  O'Conor,  and  was  among  the  first 
to  pay  homage  to  Henry  II.  He  surrendered 
Limerick  to  King  Henry,  and  agreed  to  render 
tribute  as   to  his   sovereign  lord,  but  took   the 


i6o  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

first  occasion  to  turn  against  the  Anglo- 
Normans.  In  1174  Earl  Strongbow  marched 
south  to  reassert  his  authority,  but  was  inter- 
cepted at  Thurles  by  forces  under  Roderic 
O'Conor  and  Donald  O'Brien,  and  defeated  with 
great  loss. 

According  to  the  Annals  of  Inisfallen,  four 
knights  and  700  of  Strongbow's  troops  were 
killed,  and  the  Four  Masters  say:  "He  returned 
in  sorrow  to  his  house  in  Waterford,  and  O'Brien 
proceeded  home  in  triumph."  On  his  return 
from  victory  Donald  blinded  and  put  to  death 
several  of  his  relatives,  to  prevent  the  possibility 
of  trouble  from  their  designs  upon  the  crown. 
Soon  afterwards,  Strongbow  and  Raymond  Fitz- 
Gerald  besieged  and  took  Limerick,  and  Roderic 
O'Conor  making  an  incursion  about  the  same 
time,  Donald  again  submitted  to  the  Anglo- 
Normans. 

When  FitzGerald  hastened  to  Dublin  in 
1177,  on  receiving  the  news  of  Strongbow's 
death,  O'Brien,  forgetful  of  all  his  engagements, 
cut  down  the  bridge  over  the  Shannon,  and  fired 
the  town,  stored  with  supplies  of  all  kinds,  de- 
claring that  it  should  no  longer  be  a  nest  for  for- 
eigners. Henry  II.  shortly  afterwards  granted 
Donald's  dominions  to  Philip  de  Braosa,  and  in 
1192  two  bands  of  English  settlers  entered  his 
territory,  but  were  defeated  near  Killaloe,  driven 
across  the  Shannon,  and  again  defeated  near 
Thurles.    Donald  O'Brien  died  in  1194. 

Murtough  O'Brien 

Murtough  O'Brien,  King  of  Munster,  suc- 
ceeded his  father  in  1194.  One  of  his  first  acts 
was  to  put  to  death  his  cousin,  Donough,  who  ad- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  i6i 

vanced  pretensions  to  the  crown.  In  1196,  with 
O'Conor  and  MacCarthy,  he  marched  upon 
Cork,  obliged  the  Anglo-Normans  to  evacuate  it, 
and  afterwards  defeated  them  at  Limerick,  and 
at  Kilfeacle,  where  they  had  erected  a  castle. 
The  Irish  allies,  however,  soon  fought  among 
themselves.  In  1201,  De  Burgo  led  a  large  army 
of  O'Briens  and  MacCarthys  into  Connaught, 
and  devastated  the  monastery  of  Athdalaarg,  on 
the  River  Boyle.  After  this  the  O'Briens  again 
fell  out  among  themselves,  and  also  fought 
against  the  Anglo-Normans,  by  whom,  in  1208, 
Murtough  was  taken  prisoner  and  blinded.  He 
died  in  1239. 

Donough  C.  O'Brien 

Donough  Cairbreach  O'Brien,  King  of  Mun- 
ster,  was  upon  the  deposition  of  his  brother,  in 
1208,  allowed  by  the  Anglo-Normans  to  succeed 
him,  and  submitting  to  King  John,  Thomond  was 
conferred  on  him  and  his  heirs,  with  the  fortress 
and  lordship  of  Garrigogonnell,  which  had  be- 
longed to  William  de  Braosa.  Donough  fixed  his 
residence  at  Clonroad,  near  Ennis,  and  com- 
menced the  erection  of  the  beautiful  Franciscan 
abbey,  the  ruins  of  which  still  remain.  He  was 
engaged  in  constant  wars  with  the  princes  of 
Connaught.     His  death  took  place  in  1242. 

Conor  O'Brien 

Conor  O'Brien,  King  of  Munster,  succeeded 
his  father  in  1242.  With  twenty  other  Irish 
princes,  he  was  summoned  by  Henry  III.  to  aid 
him  in  an  expedition  against  the  Scots,  and  after- 
wards, the  Four  Masters  record  that  "a  great 


i62  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

battle  broke  out  between  him  and  the  English 
of  Munster."  The  territories  of  all  the  Irish 
princes  but  the  O'Neills,  the  O'Conors  and  the 
O'Briens  had  long  before  this  been  partitioned 
among  the  descendants  of  the  Norman  invaders. 
In  1258  a  conference  was  held  at  Narrow-water 
on  the  Erne,  between  Hugh  O'Conor  and  Teige 
O'Brien,  on  behalf  of  their  respective  fathers,  and 
Brian  O'Neill,  to  concert  measures  for  mutual 
safety.  They  made  peace  with  each  other,  and 
conferred  the  sovereignty  of  the  island  upon 
Brian  O'Neill. 

Little  practical  result  followed  this  compact; 
several  Irish  princes  were  soon  detached  from 
the  alliance  by  the  Anglo-Normans,  and  next 
year,  when  O'Neill  and  O'Conor  collected  their 
forces,  no  representative  of  the  O'Briens  joined 
them.  The  battle  of  Drumdearg,  near  Down- 
patrick,  ensued,  in  which  the  Irish  were  defeated 
with  the  loss  of  Brian  O'Neill  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  Ulster  and  Connaught  chieftains.  On  the 
other  hand,  O'Brien  defeated  the  English  at  Kil- 
barron,  in  Clare,  where  many  of  the  Welsh  set- 
tlers of  Mayo  were  slain.  He  was  then  strong 
enough  to  compel  several  of  the  ancient  tribu- 
taries of  his  house  to  acknowledge  his  authority. 
He  fell  at  the  battle  of  Siudan,  in  Clare,  in  1267, 
in  an  expedition  against  the  O'Loughlins  and 
O'Conors  of  Corcomroe. 

Brian  Roe  O'Brien 

Brian  Roe  O'Brien,  King  of  Munster,  second 
son  of  Conor  O'Brien,  succeeded  on  the  death 
of  his  father,  in  1267.  Violent  contentions  im- 
mediately ensued  between  him  and  his  nephew, 
Turlough,  in  the  course  of  which  Brian  called 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  163 

to  his  assistance  Thomas  de  Clare,  a  young' 
knight,  to  whom  Edward  I.  had  granted  Tho- 
mond.  When,  in  1277,  De  Clare,  armed  with 
Edward's  grant,  arrived  at  Cork  from  England 
with  a  numerous  band  of  followers,  Brian  met 
him  on  landing  and  conveyed  to  him  as  the  price 
of  his  assistance  the  district  comprised  in  the 
present  barony  of  Lower  Bunratty. 

According  to  a  note  in  the  Four  Masters, 
they  swore  to  be  true  to  each  other  forever,  and 
for  confirmation  of  this  bond  of  perpetual  friend- 
ship they  drew  blood  from  each  other,  which  they 
mixed  and  put  in  a  vessel.  De  Clare  immediately 
erected  Bunratty  Castle.  The  same  year  O'Brien 
and  De  Clare  were  defeated  by  the  De  Burgos  of 
Connaught  and  the  Irish  of  Burren  in  a  bloody 
engagement  at  Maghgresain,  and  fled  to  Bun- 
ratty. There,  in  vexation  at  his  defeat  and  at 
the  instigation  of  his  wife,  De  Clare  caused 
O'Brien  to  be  put  to  death. 

Murrough  O'Brien 

Murrough  O'Brien,  first  Earl  of  Thomond, 
was  a  descendant  of  Brian  Roe,  King  of  Mun- 
ster.  In  1540,  he  met  O'Neill,  O'Donnell  and 
O'Conor  at  Fore  in  West  Meath,  and  concerted 
joint  operations  against  the  Anglo-Irish  power, 
but  they  were  shortly  afterwards  defeated  by  Sir 
William  Brereton,  Lord-Justice.  This  defeat  and 
one  at  Bellahoe,  the  previous  year,  opened  the 
way  for  a  general  pacification  through  the  sub- 
mission of  the  Irish  chieftains.  A  Parliament  in 
Dublin,  in  1541,  proclaimed  Henry  VIIL  King  of 
Ireland,  and  declared  it  high  treason  to  impeach 
this  title  or  oppose  the  royal  authority.  Mur- 
rough O'Brien  renounced  all  idea  of  opposing 


i64  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Henry,  provided  his  estates  were  confirmed  to 
him. 

The  king  and  council  joyfully  accepted  his 
conditions.  One  hundred  pounds  was  loaned 
O'Brien  to  enable  him  to  visit  London,  and  on 
Sunday,  July  1,  1543,  he  was  received  by  King- 
Henry,  at  Greenwich,  and  created  Earl  of  Tho- 
mond.  Other  Irish  chieftains  were  ennobled  at 
the  same  time,  and  all  were  granted  residences 
in  Dublin,  so  that  they  should  be  able  to  attend 
Parliament.  He  died  in  1551,  and  Thomond  and 
Desmond  were  again  involved  in  a  war  regard- 
ing the  succession;  and  nominal  peace  was  not 
restored  until  1558,  when  the  Lord-Deputy  Sus- 
sex entered  Thomond  at  the  head  of  a  large 
army,  and  placed  the  rightful  earl  in  power. 

Conor  O'Brien 

Conor  O'Brien,  third  Earl  of  Thomond,  in 
1570  broke  out  into  rebellion,  was  defeated,  and 
passed  over  into  France,  but  was  afterwards  re- 
ceived back  into  favor  by  Elizabeth,  and  returned 
to  Ireland  with  commendatory  letters  to  the 
council.  In  October,  1577,  after  another  period 
of  civil  war,  he  visited  the  Queen,  and  again  ob- 
tained several  advantages  for  himself  and  his 
descendants.  He  died  in  1580,  and  within  five 
years  Thomond  was  completely  settled  into 
counties  and  shire  ground,  all  old  rights  and 
customs  abolished  by  law,  circuits  established, 
and  the  power  of  the  O'Briens  restricted  to  those 
enjoyed  by  the  nobility  in  England. 

Donough  O'Brien 

Donough  O'Brien,  fourth  Earl  of  Thomond, 
the  "Great  Earl,"   son  of  the  third  Earl,  was 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  165 

brought  up  at  the  court  of  Elizabeth,  and  suc- 
ceeded to  the  titles  and  estates  on  the  death  of  his 
father  in  1580.  In  July,  1597,  at  the  head  of  his 
clansmen,  he  joined  the  Lord-Deputy  at  Boyle 
for  an  attack  on  O'Donnell.  In  crossing"  the 
Erne  in  the  face  of  O'Donnell's  troops,  the  Baron 
of  Inchiquin,  the  earl's  relative,  was  killed.  The 
reduction  of  the  castle  of  Ballyshannon  was  un- 
successfully attempted,  and  the  Lord-Deputy  and 
O'Brien  were  compelled  to  beat  an  ignominious 
retreat,  abandoning  some  of  their  artillery  and 
baggage.  In  the  following  January  the  earl  was 
dispatched  by  the  Lords-Justices  to  inform  the 
queen  of  the  true  position  of  affairs  in  Ireland, 
and  to  be  the  bearer  of  the  conditions  upon  which 
O'Neill  and  O'Donnell  were  willing  to  lay  down 
their  arms. 

After  O'Neill's  victory  at  the  Yellow  Ford, 
the  flame  of  insurrection  spread  into  Thomond. 
The  earl,  in  1599,  visited  the  domains  at  the  head 
of  a  considerable  body  of  the  Queen's  troops, 
and  inflicted  a  terrible  retaliation  on  his  country- 
men,— hanging  the  garrison  of  the  castle  of  Dun- 
beg  in  couples  on  the  nearest  trees,  and  redu- 
cing Dunmore,  Derryowen,  Cloon,  and  Lissofin. 
Later  in  the  same  year  he  attended  the  Earl  of 
Essex  in  his  progress  through  the  south  of  Ire- 
land,— parting  from  him  at  Dungarvan,  and  re- 
turning by  Youghal  and  Cork  to  Limerick.  In 
the  summer  of  1600  O'Brien  joined  Sir  George 
Carew  in  his  victorious  expedition  through  Des- 
mond, and  was  present  at  the  reduction  of  Glin 
Castle  and  other  strongholds.  In  1601  the  earl 
again  visited  England,  and  returning  with  rein- 
forcements for  Mountjoy,  then  engaged  at  the 
siege  of  Kinsale. 

After  the  surrender  of  Don  Juan  d'Aguila, 


i66  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

and  the  settlement  of  the  country,  he  had  leisure 
to  look  after  his  own  affairs,  and  the  historian 
of  the  O'Briens  quotes  documents  to  prove  that 
he  still  exercised  or  claimed  almost  regal  author- 
ity over  the  other  members  of  his  clan.  In  May, 
1619,  he  v^as  made  Governor  of  Clare  and  Tho- 
mond.  He  died  September  5,  1624,  and  was 
buried  in  Limerick  Cathedral. 


Lucius  O'Brien 

Sir  Lucius  O'Brien,  baronet,  descended  from 
a  younger  son  of  the  first  Baron  of  Inchiquin, 
was  born  in  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. On  the  death  of  his  father,  Sir  Edward, 
in  1765,  he  entered  the  Irish  Parliament  as  mem- 
ber for  Clare.  He  sided  with  the  popular  party 
in  their  efforts  for  the  advancement  and  inde- 
pendence of  Ireland,  and,  pursuing  an  independ- 
ent parliamentary  career  (which  extended  over 
the  administrations  of  thirteen  viceroys,  from  the 
Duke  of  Bedford  to  the  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  a 
period  of  thirty-six  years),  he  left  to  his  country 
and  his  posterity  the  character  of  a  high-minded 
patriot  and  statesman,  as  zealous  for  the  interests 
of  his  country  as  he  was  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  its  wants,  and  ready  to  assert  its  rights. 
The  appreciation  of  his  high  and  independent 
character,  his  public  spirit,  and  his  illustrious 
lineage,  by  the  House  of  Commons,  was  fre- 
quently testified  by  the  deference  paid  to  his 
opinions  whenever  questions  of  importance  or 
difficulty  happened  to  engage  its  attention.  He 
was  a  Privy-Councillor  and  Clerk  of  the  Crown 
and  Hanaper.    He  died  January  15,  1795. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  167 

Murrough  O'Brien 

Murrough  O'Brien,  sixth  Baron  and  Earl  of 
Inchiquin,  known  as  "the  Incendiary,"  was  born 
about  1618.  His  grandfather  perished  at  the 
Erne,  in  1597,  fighting  for  the  Enghsh  against 
Hugh  O'Donnell.  His  father  died  when  he  was 
a  minor,  and  Murrough  did  not  enter  into  the 
possession  of  his  estates  until  1636.  Inchiquin 
served  for  some  years  in  the  Spanish  army,  and, 
returning  home  in  1639,  took  his  seat  among  the 
peers.  He  early  attracted  the  notice  of  Strafford 
and  was  commended  by  Charles  I.  for  his  loyalty. 
In  April,  1640,  he  was  appointed  Vice-President 
of  Munster,  under  Sir  William  St.  Leger,  his 
father-in-law. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  of  1641-52, 
he  distinguished  himself  against  the  Confeder- 
ates at  Rathgogan  and  Ballyhay,  near  Charle- 
ville.  April  13,  1642,  he  defended  Cork  with  great 
ability,  and  soon  afterwards  the  entire  civil  and 
military  administration  of  Munster  devolved 
upon  him.  September  2,  1642,  with  2,000  foot 
and  400  horse,  he  defeated  Mountgarret  and  a 
superior  force  at  the  battle  of  Liscarroll.  After 
the  armistice  of  September,  1643,  Inchiquin  was 
enabled  to  dispatch  five  regiments  for  the  service 
of  the  King.  Subsequently  he  proceeded  to  Ox- 
ford to  solicit  the  post  of  President  of  Munster; 
but  finding  that  reports  had  been  circulated  to 
his  disadvantage,  and  that  King  Charles  was 
prejudiced  against  him,  he  returned  to  Ireland, 
"determined  to  assert  his  own  importance,  and 
prove  the  value  of  those  services  to  which  little 
regard  had  been  paid." 

In  1644  he  appears  to  have  put  himself  under 


i68  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

the  protection  of  the  parHament,  and  to  have  re- 
ceived from  it  the  appointment  he  coveted.  He 
joined  Lord  Broghill  in  the  campaign  of  1645, 
driving  out  the  Catholic  inhabitants  of  Cork, 
Youghal,  and  Kinsale,  burning  their  houses  and 
confiscating  their  goods.  The  satisfaction  of  the 
Confederates  at  the  Papal  Nuncio's  entrance  into 
Kilkenny,  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  was 
dampened  by  the  news  that  Lord  Inchiquin  had 
taken  Bunratty  Castle  from  his  relative,  the  Earl 
of  Thomond.  The  Confederate  Supreme  Council 
immediately  transferred  Inchiquin's  title  to  his 
younger  brother,  who  still  sided  with  them,  and 
next  summer  an  expedition  was  sent  under  Lord 
Muskerry  to  retake  Bunratty,  which  was  de- 
fended by  MacAdam,  a  Parliamentary  officer, 
and  by  a  fleet  under  Admiral  Penn.  After  a 
vigorous  defense,  MacAdam  was  killed  and  the 
garrison  capitulated,  being  permitted  to  join 
Inchiquin  at  Cork.  In  1647,  at  the  head  of  5,000 
foot  and  500  horse,  Inchiquin  successively  re- 
duced Cappoquin,  Dromore,  Dungarvan,  Cahir, 
Fethard,  and  Cashel. 

In  the  assault  of  Cashel,  frightful  atroci- 
ties were  committed.  In  November  he  routed 
Taaffe's  army  of  8,000  men,  with  great  slaughter, 
at  Knocknanos,  near  Mallow.  Upon  receipt  of 
the  news  of  this  victory,  parliament  voted  £  10,- 
000  for  the  support  of  the  army  in  Ireland,  and 
sent  a  present  of  £1,000  to  Inchiquin  himself. 
After  this  a  misunderstanding  arose  between 
Lord  Lisle,  the  Parliamentary  Lord-Lieutenant, 
and  Inchiquin,  ending  in  an  abortive  impeach- 
ment of  the  latter  in  parliament.  Inchiquin  now 
turned  again  towards  his  Royalist  friends,  and 
commenced  a  correspondence  with  Ormond,  and 
parliament,  apprised  of  his  designs,  sent  a  force 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  169 

to  blockade  Cork,  Kinsale,  and  Youghal.  Sep- 
tember 29,  1648,  Ormond  arrived  at  Cork.  Inchi- 
quin  and  his  army  received  him  v^ith  all  honor, 
and  the  Confederation  resigned  its  power  into 
his  hands. 

On  the  nev^s  of  the  King's  death,  the  follow- 
ing January,  Ormond  marched  to  Dublin  and 
encamped  at  Finglas,  while  Inchiquin,  with  a 
body  of  dragoons,  secured  Drogheda  after  a  short 
siege.  On  the  15th  of  July  he  invested  Dundalk, 
and  Monk,  in  command  of  the  place,  was  forced 
by  his  soldiers  to  surrender.  Inchiquin  took  no 
part  in  the  unsuccessful  operations  for  the  re- 
covery of  Dublin  from  the  Parliamentarians,  but 
the  charge  that  a  secret  understanding  existed 
between  him  and  Jones,  Governor  of  Dublin,  ap- 
pears to  be  without  foundation.  Ormond  and 
Inchiquin  were  unable  to  withstand  the  advance 
of  Cromwell's  victorious  army,  and  December 
11,  1650,  accompanied  by  many  Royalist  offi- 
cers, he  embarked  at  Galway  for  France.  Lord 
Inchiquin  served  in  the  French  army  for  several 
years,  was  made  Viceroy  of  Catalonia,  and  fought 
in  the  Netherlands. 

In  1654  he  was  created  Earl  of  Inchiquin  by 
Prince  Charles.  On  one  occasion,  within  sight  of 
Lisbon,  he  and  his  son  were  taken  prisoners  by 
Algerian  pirates  and  he  was  not  released  until 
the  English  Council  of  State  intervened  on  his 
behalf.  In  1662  he  served  in  the  Portuguese 
army  against  Spain.  The  events  of  his  remain- 
ing years  are  few  and  comparatively  unimpor- 
tant. After  the  Restoration,  he  was  appointed 
Vice-President  of  Munster.  He  was  awarded 
£8,000  for  the  losses  he  had  suffered  in  the  Roy- 
alist cause,  and  his  estates  in  Clare,  Limerick, 


I70  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Tipperary,  and  Cork  were  restored  to  him.     In 
his  latter  years  he  became  a  Catholic. 

He  died  vSeptember  9,  1674,  and  was  buried 
by  his  own  directions  in  Limerick  Cathedral.  On 
the  death  of  his  descendant,  James,  third  mar- 
quis, seventh  earl,  and  twelfth  baron,  in  1855, 
the  earldom  became  extinct,  but  the  barony 
of  Inchiquin  devolved  on  Sir  Lucius  O'Brien. 
William  Smith  O'Brien,  the  distinguished  Irish 
Nationalist  (see  Volume  II.)  was  grandson  of 
Sir  Lucius  O'Brien.  Lucius  W.  O'Brien,  fifteenth 
baron,  is  the  present  representative  of  the  family, 

James  Butler 

James  Butler,  first  Earl  of  Ormond,  was  a 
minor  at  his  father's  death.  He  was  a  descend- 
ant of  Sir  Theobald  Walter,  who  accompanied 
King  Henry  II.  to  Ireland  in  1171,  and,  as  a 
mark  of  royal  favor,  appointed  to  the  high  office 
of  Chief  Butler  of  Ireland  (from  which  his  de- 
scendants derived  their  family  name),  and  had 
large  possessions  conferred  upon  him.  James 
Butler  married  Eleanor  de  Bohun,  granddaugh- 
ter of  King  Edward  I.,  was  created  Earl  of  Or- 
mond, and  had  a  grant  made  him  of  the  annual 
rent  of  the  city  of  Waterford.  This  marriage 
ultimately  procured  him  still  more  considerable 
advantages, — particularly  the  grant  of  the  "Re- 
galities and  Liberties  of  Tipperary,"  and  the 
rights  of  a  palatine  in  that  county.  As  soon  as 
he  was  of  age  (about  1327),  he  engaged  on  the 
side  of  his  cousin,  the  Earl  of  Kildare,  in  his 
wars  with  the  De  Burgos  and  Le  Poers.  In 
1329  and  1330  he  was  at  war  with  the  O'Nolans 
and  MacGeoghegans. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  171 

He  founded,  in  1336,  the  Friary  of  Little 
Carrick,  in  County  Waterford,  and  dying  Janu- 
ary 6,  1338,  was  buried  at  Gowran. 

James  Butler 

James  Butler,  second  Earl  of  Ormond,  was 
born  at  Kilkenny,  October  4,  1331,  and  was  con- 
sequently but  six  years  of  age  at  his  father's 
death.  He  was  given  in  ward  to  the  Earl  of 
Desmond,  and  afterwards  to  Sir  John  d'Arcy, 
whose  daughter  he  married  during  his  minority. 
He  is  often  spoken  of  as  the  "Noble  Earl."  King 
Edward  HI.,  his  cousin,  granted  him  an  annuity 
of  about  £40,  besides  some  additional  estates. 
In  1359  he  was  Lord-Justice,  with  a  salary  of 
£500.  He  attended  Lionel,  Duke  of  Clarence,  in 
his  Irish  wars,  and  was  for  a  time,  during  the 
Duke's  absence  in  England,  Lord-Deputy.  In 
1362  he  defeated  MacMurrough  in  County  Kil- 
dare,  and  slew  600  of  his  men.  In  1372  he  was 
created  Constable  of  Dublin  Castle.  In  1378 
he  surrendered  the  sword  of  Lord-Justice  to 
Alexander  Balscot,  Bishop  of  Ossory.  The  Earl 
died  at  Knocktopher,  October  18,  1382,  and  was 
buried  in  St.  Canice's  Church,  Kilkenny. 

James  Butler 

James  Butler,  third  Earl  of  Ormond,  son  of 
the  preceding,  styled  "Earl  of  Gowran,"  from 
having  built  Gowran  Castle.  In  1391  he  pur- 
chased the  estate  of  Kilkenny  Castle,  thenceforth 
the  seat  of  the  Butlers.  He  filled  several  impor- 
tant offices  connected  with  the  government  of 
Ireland;  "being  a  mighty  strong  man,  he  is  styled 
in  some  annals  the  head  of  the  chivalry  of  Ire- 


172  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

land,  which  kingdom  he  governed  to  the  con- 
tent of  the  King  and  his  good  subjects."  He 
was  not  only  successful  in  many  of  his  incursions 
against  the  native  chieftains,  but  checked  the 
depredations  of  Scotch  and  Welsh  pirates  upon 
the  Irish  coasts.  He  died  at  Gowran,  September 
7,  1405. 

James  Butler 

James  Butler,  fourth  Earl  of  Ormond,  known 
as  the  "White  Earl,"  was,  like  many  of  his  prede- 
cessors, a  minor  when  his  father  died.  He  re- 
ceived an  education  in  advance  of  most  young 
Irish  lords  of  his  time.  Before  he  was  of  age 
he  distinguished  himself  in  the  field  against  the 
Irish,  was  made  Lord-Deputy,  and  held  a  Parlia- 
ment in  Dublin  about  1408.  He  traveled  in 
France  with  Thomas  of  Lancaster  in  1412.  In 
1420  he  attended  King  Henry  V.  in  his  French 
wars,  and  ingratiated  himself  so  much  with  that 
monarch  that  he  returned  to  Ireland  as  Lord- 
Lieutenant.  He  headed  expeditions  against  the 
native  septs  into  Ulster  and  other  parts  of  the 
country. 

A  few  months  after  Henry  V.'s  death,  he 
was  replaced  in  the  government  of  Ireland  by  Ed- 
mund Mortimer.  The  earl  held  the  office  of  Lord- 
Deputy  in  1425  and  1440,  and  was  Lord-Lieu- 
tenant in  1443.  A  violent  feud  arose  between 
the  Butlers  and  Talbots,  and  members  of  the 
latter  family  used  every  endeavor,  but  without 
success,  to  lessen  the  esteem  in  which  he  was 
held  by  King  Henry  VI.  He  died  at  Ardee, 
August  23,  1452,  and  was  buried  at  St.  Mary's 
Abbey,  Dublin.  His  first  wife  was  a  daughter 
of  the  Earl  of  Kildare,  his  second  the  widow  of 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  173 

Earl  Grey.  The  White  Earl  was  a  deep  student 
of  history  and  antiquities,  and  an  expert  in  the 
laws  of  arms  and  matters  of  honor.  He  endowed 
the  College  of  Heralds  with  lands,  and  advanced 
the  study  and  culture  of  Irish  heraldry. 

James  Butler 

James  Butler,  fifth  Earl  of  Ormond,  born 
November  24,  1420,  was  almost  the  first  after 
the  settlement  of  his  family  in  Ireland  that  was 
not  left  a  minor  on  the  death  of  his  father.  When 
young  he  was  knighted  by  King  Henry  VI.  and 
he  accompanied  Richard,  Duke  of  York,  to 
France.  In  1449  he  was  created  Earl  of  Wilt- 
shire, and  was  for  a  time  Governor  of  Calais. 
In  1451  he  was  Lord-Deputy;  and  next  year, 
upon  his  father's  death,  was  appointed  Lord- 
Lieutenant.  In  1452,  with  other  great  lords,  he 
undertook  the  guarding  of  the  British  seas  for 
three  years. 

He  was  present  at  the  battle  of  St.  Albans; 
at  Wakefield,  in  conjunction  with  the  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  he  commanded  one  wing  of  the  Lan- 
castrian army;  and  at  Mortimer's  Cross,  lead- 
ing a  body  of  Welsh  and  Irish  against  the  Earl 
of  March,  he  was  defeated  with  heavy  loss. 
Shortly  afterwards  (March  29,  1461)  he  was 
taken  prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Towton  in  York- 
shire, and  beheaded  at  Newcastle  on  the  follow- 
ing 1st  of  May.  He  was  thrice  married;  his 
third  marriage,  with  Eleanor,  sister  of  the  Duke 
of  Somerset,  engaging  him  in  the  Lancastrian 
cause. 

James  Butler 

James  Butler,  sixth  Earl  of  Ormond,  being 
present  with  his  brother,  fifth  earl,  at  the  battle 


174  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

of  Towton,  in  1461,  was  likewise  attainted.  He 
was  afterwards,  by  King  Edward  IV.,  restored 
in  blood  and  to  most  of  his  estates.  The  King 
used  to  say  of  him  "that  he  was  the  goodliest 
knight  he  ever  beheld,  and  the  finest  gentleman 
in  Christendom;  and  that  if  good  breeding,  nur- 
ture, and  liberal  qualities  were  lost  in  the  world, 
they  might  all  be  found  in  the  Earl  of  Ormond." 
languages,  and  there  was  scarce  a  court  to  which 
He  was  accounted  master  of  all  the  European 
Edward  IV.  did  not  send  him  as  ambassador. 
He  died  in  the  Holy  Land,  on  his  way  to  Jeru- 
salem, in  1478. 

Thomas  Butler 

Thomas  Butler,  seventh  Earl  of  Ormond, 
succeeded  his  brother  in  1478.  He  also  had  been 
attainted  by  King  Edward  IV.  and  the  attainder 
was  revoked,  as  in  the  case  of  his  predecessor. 
By  King  Henry  VII.  he  was  made  a  Privy-Coun- 
cillor, and  was  in  1492  and  1497  sent  on  diplo- 
matic missions  to  France.  He  was  reputed  one 
of  the  richest  British  subjects.  He  died  in  Lon- 
don, August  3,  1515.  His  daughter  Margaret 
married  Sir  William  Boleyn,  and  was  mother  of 
Anne  Boleyn,  who  became  the  mother  of  Queen 
Elizabeth. 

Pierce  Butler 

Pierce  Butler,  eighth  Earl  of  Ormond,  suc- 
ceeded his  father  in  1515.  He  had  already  dis- 
tinguished himself  in  the  service  of  the  Crown, 
and  had  been  successful  in  suppressing  the  insur- 
rections of  the  native  Irish.  In  1521  he  was  ap- 
pointed Lord-Deputy.  His  marriage  with  a  sis- 
ter of  the  Earl  of  Kildare  did  not  extinguish  the 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  175 

feud  between  the  Butlers  and  FitzGeralds.  On 
account  of  the  death  of  his  friend,  Richard  Tal- 
bot, by  James  FitzGerald,  he  impeached  the  Earl 
of  Kildare.  The  matter  ended  by  FitzGerald 
being  obliged  to  walk  through  London,  candle 
in  hand,  and  a  halter  around  his  neck;  on  the 
other  hand,  Ormond  was  replaced  in  the  office 
of  Deputy  by  Kildare.  At  one  time  it  is  stated 
negotiations  were  set  on  foot  for  the  marriage  of 
his  son  to  his  cousin,  Anne  Boleyn.  King  Henry 
VIII.  coerced  Pierce  to  resign  his  title  of  Earl  of 
Ormond  to  Sir  Thomas  Boleyn,  who  was  de- 
sirous of  the  honor.  In  its  stead,  the  Earldom  of 
Ossory  was  conferred  upon  him  by  the  King, 
in  great  state,  at  Windsor,  February  23,  1528. 

After  Sir  T.  Boleyn's  death.  Pierce  was  re- 
stored to  his  ancient  honor  of  Ormond.  By  this 
deference  to  Henry  VIII. 's  wishes,  he  acquired 
large  additions  to  his  estates  in  various  parts  of 
Leinster.  Lord  Thomas  FitzGerald  endeavored 
to  induce  the  earl  to  join  him  in  insurrection, — 
offering  to  divide  the  Kingdom  of  Ireland  with 
his  son  James.  The  earl  declined  in  a  character- 
istic letter,  in  which  he  wrote:  "You  are  so  lib- 
eral in  parting  stakes  with  me,  that  a  man  would 
weene  you  had  no  right  to  the  game;  and  so  im- 
portunate for  my  company,  as  if  you  would  per- 
swade  me  to  hang  with  you  for  good  fellowship. 
And  think  you  that  James  is  so  mad  as  to  gape 
for  gudgeons,  or  so  ungrateful  as  to  sell  his 
truth  and  loyalty  for  a  piece  of  Ireland?"  Net- 
tled by  this  reply,  FitzGerald,  with  O'Neill  and 
other  Irish  chieftains,  ravaged  County  Kilkenny, 
and  in  an  engagement  near  Jerpoint  wounded 
and  nearly  took  prisoner  James,  the  earl's  son. 

Ormond  was  foremost  in  suppressing  the  in- 
surrection, and  upon  the  death  of  Kildare  and  the 


176  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

execution  of  his  uncles  in  1537,  was,  as  a  reward, 
further  enriched  by  the  Crown;  he  then  turned 
his  arms  against  the  Earl  of  Desmond,  who  sub- 
mitted, and  took  an  oath  of  loyalty.  He  and  his 
countess  brought  workmen  from  Flanders,  and 
enriched  Kilkenny  Castle  with  tapestry,  Turkey 
carpets,  and  cushions.  The  latter  part  of  the 
earl's  life  was  spent  in  prayer,  contemplation,  and 
alms-giving.  He  died  August  26,  1539,  and  was 
buried  in  St.  Canice's  Church,  Kilkenny.  He  is 
described  as  "a  man  of  great  honor  and  sincerity, 
infinitely  good-natured,  plain,  kind,  loving,  fa- 
miliar, and  liberal  to  his  friends  and  followers; 
but  an  enemy  and  severe  scourge  to  all  bad  peo- 
ple." His  second  son  was  created  Viscount 
Mountgarret,  and  his  natural  son,  Edmund, 
Archbishop  of  Cashel. 

James  Butler 

James  Butler,  ninth  Earl  of  Ormond,  Earl 
of  Ossory,  succeeded  on  the  death  of  his  father 
in  1539.  Seven  years  before,  he  had  been  Lord- 
Treasurer,  to  balance  the  power  of  the  Earl  of 
Kildare,  then  Lord-Deputy.  In  1534  he  had  been 
entrusted  with  the  custody  of  all  the  ports  of 
Ireland,  as  Admiral  of  the  kingdom,  and  was 
afterwards  created  Viscount  Thurles,  and  spe- 
cially commissioned  to  proceed  against  Irish  in- 
surgents and  take  them  into  protection  where  de- 
sirable. The  period  of  the  Reformation  is  marked 
by  his  engaging  to  support  King  Henry  VIII., 
who  granted  him  additional  estates  in  various 
parts  of  the  country. 

In  1545  he  headed  a  body  of  Irish  troops 
in  the  King's  service  in  Scotland.  Upon  his 
return,  in  1546,  a  dispute  with  the  Earl  of  Len- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  177 

nox  necessitated  reference  to  the  King  in  Lon- 
don. October  17th  he  attended  a  feast  at  Ely 
House,  Holborn.  By  some  means  the  viands 
were  poisoned.  Seventeen  of  his  servants  died, 
and  he  succumbed  eleven  days  afterwards,  Octo- 
ber 28,  1546.  He  was  interred  in  London,  among 
some  of  his  ancestors,  in  the  church  of  *'St. 
Thomas  d'Acres,"  but  his  heart,  according  to  his 
desire,  was  deposited  in  St.  Canice's  Church,  Kil- 
kenny. He  had  a  numerous  family  by  his  wife 
Joan,  daughter  of  James,  Earl  of  Desmond. 

Thomas  Butler 

Thomas  Butler,  tenth  Earl  of  Ormond,  Earl 
of  Ossory,  surnamed  the  "Black  Earl,"  born 
about  1532,  was  but  fourteen  at  his  father's  death. 
He  was  brought  up  at  the  English  court  with 
Edward  VL,  who  took  delight  in  his  company. 
Serving  as  a  volunteer  under  the  Duke  of  Somer- 
set in  Scotland,  he  distinguished  himself  by  his 
bravery  at  the  battle  of  Musselborough.  In 
Queen  Mary's  reign  he  was  made  captain  of  a 
troop  of  horse,  and  gave  distinguished  proofs  of 
fidelity  and  courage  in  the  suppression  of  Wyatt's 
rebellion.  In  1554  he  entered  into  possession  of 
his  estates,  and  within  the  next  three  years  more 
than  once  marched  under  the  Lord-Lieutenant 
against  the  Scots  in  Ulster.  Soon  afterwards  he 
relieved  the  Earl  of  Thomond,  besieged  by  the 
native  septs  at  Bunratty. 

He  stood  high  in  the  good  graces  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  who  made  him  Lord-Treasurer,  and 
added  to  his  estates  out  of  the  confiscated  church 
lands.  In  1564  and  1565  Munster  was  wasted  in 
conflicts  between  him  and  the  Earl  of  Desmond. 
Ultimately    Desmond    and    Sir    John    of    Des- 


178  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

mond  were  sent  over  to  London  and  imprisoned; 
whereupon  several  of  the  southern  chieftains, 
aided  by  the  Earl  of  Ormond's  brothers,  Sir  Ed- 
mund and  vSir  Pierce  Butler,  took  the  field  against 
the  Government.  Ormond,  in  England  at  the 
time,  was  sent  over  to  help  to  quell  the  insurrec- 
tion. He  landed  at  Waterford,  August  14,  1569, 
and  hastened  to  join  the  Lord-Deputy  at  Ivim- 
erick.  There  his  two  brothers  submitted  and 
were  pardoned. 

In  consequence  of  the  Desmond  insurrec- 
tion, he  was,  in  1578,  made  Governor  of  Mun- 
ster;  and  in  1580,  in  conjunction  with  Lord- 
Justice  Pelham,  made  an  expedition  into  Des- 
mond. Carrigfoyle,  Askeaton,  and  other  fort- 
resses were  taken  and  their  garrisons  put  to  the 
sword.  In  1581  the  Baron  of  Lixnaw,  one  of 
Desmond's  chief  followers,  submitted  to  the  Earl 
of  Ormond,  who  interceded  for  and  obtained  his 
pardon.  In  1583  he  obtained  supplies  of  men, 
money,  and  ammunition  from  England,  and  made 
a  determined  efifort  to  capture  the  Earl  of  Des- 
mond, to  this  end  carrying  on  a  war  of  plunder 
and  devastation  in  Munster. 

Within  the  space  of  a  few  months  he  cut 
off,  of  Desmond's  party,  "46  captains,  800  noto- 
rious traitors,  and  4,000  common  soldiers."  Be- 
fore long  nearly  all  the  great  lords  of  the  south 
submitted  to  him  at  Cork,  and  the  Earl  of  Des- 
mond was  left  a  wanderer  with  but  a  few  com- 
panions. It  is  much  to  Ormond's  credit  that  he 
positively  refused  to  accede  to  Burleigh's  direc- 
tions that  he  should  disregard  the  protections 
he  had  accorded  to  the  native  chiefs.  He  wrote: 
"I  will  never  use  treachery  to  any  man,  for  it 
will  both  touch  Her  Highness's  honor  and  my 
own  credit  too  much;   and  whosoever  gave  the 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  179 

Queen  advice  thus  to  write,  is  fitter  to  execute 
such  base  service  than  I  am." 

The  v^ars  that  desolated  Munster  were  at 
length  ended  by  the  capture  and  death  of  the 
Earl  of  Desmond  (November  11,  1583).  In  the 
ensuing  confiscations,  Ormond  was  given  3,000 
acres  in  Tipperary,  and  a  "great  tract  of  poor 
land"  in  Kerry, — less  than  he  considered  his  fair 
share  after  the  part  he  had  taken  on  the  Queen's 
side  in  the  war.  In  the  operations  against 
O'Neill  he  commanded  in  different  parts  of  the 
country.  April  10,  1600,  he  accompanied  Sir 
George  Carew  and  the  Earl  of  Thomond  to  a 
parley  near  Kilkenny  with  Owney  O'More.  The 
parley  resolved  itself  into  a  skirmish.  Ormond 
was  taken  prisoner, — Sir  George  and  Thomond 
escaping  with  difficulty. 

At  the  instance  of  O'Neill,  the  earl  was  re- 
leased in  June,  giving  Owney  hostages  for  the 
payment  of  £3,000,  should  he  thereafter  seek  re- 
venge for  the  treacherous  injuries  he  had  re- 
ceived. After  Elizabeth's  death,  he  was  con- 
firmed in  his  office  of  Lieutenant-General  by  King 
James  I.  He  was  blind  the  last  twelve  years  of 
his  life,  and  died  at  his  house  at  Carrick,  Novem- 
ber 22,  1614,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Canice's 
Church,  Kilkenny. 

Carte  styles  him  "a  man  of  very  great  parts, 
admirable  judgment,  great  experience,  and  a 
prodigious  memory;  .  .  .  very  comely  and 
graceful  ...  of  a  black  complexion  which 
gave  occasion  to  the  Queen  (in  her  way  of 
expressing  kindness  to  such  as  she  favored) 
to  call  him  her  'black  husband.'  "  This  favor 
doubtless  occasioned  the  undying  hostility  be- 
tween him  and  the  Earl  of  Leicester.  He  re- 
paired and  beautified  Kilkenny  Castle,  built  a 


i8o  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

hospital  at  Kilkenny,  and  castles  at  Holycross 
and  elsewhere.  Thrice  married,  he  left  no  heir. 
He  was  a  Protestant  in  religion. 

Walter  Butler 

Walter  Butler,  eleventh  Earl  of  Ormond, 
Earl  of  Ossory,  eldest  son  of  Sir  John  Butler, 
nephew  of  preceding,  grandson  of  the  ninth  earl, 
succeeded  on  the  tenth  earl's  death  in  1614.  He 
was  born  in  1569.  His  right  to  the  estates  was 
denied  by  Sir  R.  Preston,  Baron  Dingwall,  after- 
wards Earl  of  Desmond,  a  favorite  of  King  James 
I.,  who  claimed  them  through  his  wife  Elizabeth, 
sole  daughter  of  the  late  earl.  Carte  cites 
the  documents  upon  which  these  claims  were 
founded,  and  then  proceeds:  "Nothing  is  clearer 
than  that  according  to  these  feofifments  all  the 
estate  of  Earl  Thomas  (except  what  he  had 
given  to  his  daughter  at  her  marriage)  ought  to 
have  descended  immediately  to  Sir  Walter  But- 
ler, Earl  of  Ormond.  But  King  James  interposed 
so  warmly  in  the  case,  and  wrote  such  a  number 
of  pressing  letters  to  the  Deputies  and  Council 
of  Ireland  .  .  .  requiring  them  to  stand  by  the 
Earl  of  Desmond,  that  the  Earl  of  Ormond  could 
never  get  into  possession.  Vast  sums  were  spent 
in  law;  but  the  power  of  the  Crown  still  pre- 
vented a  decision.  At  last  King  James  took  upon 
himself  to  make  an  award,  which  Walter,  Earl  of 
Ormond,  conceiving  to  be  unjust,  refused  to  sub- 
mit to,  and  was  by  the  King's  order  taken  up 
and  committed  to  the  Fleet  prison.  He  remained 
in  that  prison  for  eight  years  before  the  death 
of  King  James,  who,  during  that  duress,  seized 
on  the  liberties  of  the  county  palatine  of  Tip- 
perary,  and  persecuted  him  in  all  the  wavs  he 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  i8i 

could  contrive,  to  the  inconceivable  detriment  of 
the  family." 

Recovering  his  liberty  in  1625,  he  lived  for  a 
time  in  London,  and  then  removing  to  Ireland, 
died  at  Carrick,  February  24,  1632,  and  was 
buried  at  St.  Canice's.  In  his  youth  he  had  dis- 
tinguished himself  in  the  Irish  v^ars.  A  devout 
Catholic,  he  was  styled  "Walter  of  the  Beads 
and  Rosaries."  He  married  a  daughter  of  Vis- 
count Mountgarret,  and  by  her  had  two  sons 
and  nine  daughters.  His  second  son  died  young 
and  without  issue.  His  eldest  son,  Thomas  But- 
ler, Viscount  Thurles,  father  of  the  twelfth  earl, 
was  drowned  off  Skerries,  near  Holyhead,  on  a 
voyage  to  England,  December  15,  1619.  James 
Butler,  twelfth  Earl  and  first  Duke  of  Ormond, 
called  the  "Great  Duke,"  born  in  London  in  1610, 
was  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  active  Royal- 
ists at  the  time  of  Charles  I.  and  Charles  II. 

James  Butler 

James  Butler,  second  Duke  of  Ormond,  son 
of  Thomas  Butler,  Earl  of  Ossory,  born  in  Dub- 
lin Castle,  April  29,  1665,  was,  with  his  brother 
and  sisters,  brought  up  by  his  grandfather,  the 
"Great  Duke."  He  was  educated  in  France  and 
at  Oxford.  When  but  seventeen,  he  married  a 
daughter  of  Lord  Hyde,  and  was  left  a  widower 
at  twenty.  He  served  at  the  siege  of  Luxem- 
bourg, and  in  suppressing  the  Duke  of  Mon- 
mouth's rebellion.  Shortly  afterwards  he  took 
as  his  second  wife  a  daughter  of  the  Duke  of 
Beaufort. 

Upon  his  grandfather's  death  he  succeeded 
to  the  title  of  duke,  and  was  by  the  University  of 
Oxford  appointed  Chancellor.    He  went  over  to 


i82  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

William  of  Orange  upon  his  arrival  in  England, 
was  made  a  Privy-Councillor,  and  had  other 
honors  heaped  upon  him.  At  the  battle  of  the 
Boyne  he  commanded  the  Life  Guards;  and  a 
few  weeks  afterwards  entertained  William  at  a 
grand  banquet  at  Kilkenny  Castle,  which  had 
been  protected  from  plunder  by  General  Lauzun. 
He  afterwards  attended  William  to  Flanders.  At 
Landen  he  was  severely  wounded,  and  taken  pris- 
oner, but  was  soon  exchanged.  He  served  again 
on  the  Continent,  among  other  commands  lead- 
ing the  land  forces  in  the  attack  on  Cadiz  in  1702. 
He  was  twice  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  and 
was  present  in  the  English  Council  Chamber  at 
the  time  of  Guiscard's  attack  on  Harley. 

After  Marlborough's  disgrace,  he  was  ap- 
pointed Commander-in-Chief,  and  met  with  a 
cool  reception  from  the  Dutch  and  Prince  Eugene 
when  he  landed  in  Flanders  in  1712;  nor  did 
the  subsequent  separate  negotiations  with  the 
French,  in  which  he  was  the  instrument  em- 
ployed by  the  English  Ministry,  raise  him  in  the 
estimation  of  the  allies.  On  his  return  to  Eng- 
land, he  was  warmly  received  and  made  Warden 
of  the  Cinque  Ports  and  Governor  of  Dover,  and 
his  Duchess  a  Lady  of  the  Bedchamber.  Through 
his  interest,  Swift  was  appointed  Dean  of  St. 
Patrick's.  Upon  George  I.'s  accession  he  was 
deprived  of  his  offices,  and  fled  to  France.  Be- 
fore leaving  he  is  said  to  have  visited  Lord  Ox- 
ford in  the  Tower,  and  upon  parting  with  him 
to  have  exclaimed,  "Farewell!  Oxford  without 
a  head."  To  which  Oxford  rejoined,  "Farewell! 
Duke  without  a  duchy."  He  was  immediately 
impeached  for:  (1)  correspondence  with  Mar- 
shal Villars  in  the  late  war;  (2)  having  engaged 
not  to  attack  the  French  army;    (3)  having  en- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  183 

deavored  to  persuade  the  Confederate  generals 
to  raise  the  siege  of  Quesnoy. 

These  charges  being  proved,  he  was  at- 
tainted of  high  treason,  and  his  name  was  erased 
from  the  Hst  of  Peers  and  from  the  Order  of 
the  Garter;  while  the  Irish  House  of  Parliament 
set  £  10,000  upon  his  head,  and  his  estate  was 
vested  in  the  Crown.  He  thenceforth  lived  upon 
an  allowance  of  £1,500  a  year  from  the  court  of 
Spain,  and  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  life  to 
the  cause  of  the  Pretender,  his  house  at  Avignon 
being  the  headquarters  of  Jacobite  intrigue. 
Though  of  an  amiable  disposition,  his  married 
life  was  unhappy.  In  1721  he  is  described  as 
"short  and  fat  in  person,  but  yet  of  most  graceful 
demeanor,  and  most  noble  aspect;  remarkable 
for  his  attachment  to  the  Church  of  England, 
and  refusing  large  demesnes  which  were  offered 
to  him  as  the  price  of  his  conversion.  .  .  .  He 
loves  and  is  beloved  by  the  ladies;  is  of  low  stat- 
ure, but  well  shaped,  of  a  good  mien  and  address, 
a  fair  complexion,  and  very  beautiful  face." 

He  died,  after  thirty  years'  exile,  November 
16,  1745.  His  body  was  conveyed  secretly  to 
England  as  a  bale  of  goods,  and  buried  in  Henry 
VII.'s  chapel,  with  some  of  his  ancestors.  His 
brother  Charles,  the  Earl  of  Arran,  repurchased 
his  escheated  estates  from  the  Government,  and 
was  in  truth  third  Duke  of  Ormond,  but  he  never 
assumed  or  was  aware  of  possessing  the  title,  as 
it  had  not  then  been  decided  that  an  attainder  in 
the  English  Parliament  did  not  affect  Irish  titles. 
On  his  death  in  December,  1758,  the  titles  of  the 
house  became  dormant,  until  revived  in  1791,  by 
John  Butler,  a  descendant  of  Walter,  eleventh 
earl,  being  created  seventeenth  Earl  of  Ormond. 
James,  nineteenth  earl,  was  in  1825  created  a 


i84  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

marquis,  the  title  now  borne  by  the  Butlers. 
J.  E.  W.  T.  Butler,  third  Marquis  of  Ormond,  is 
the  present  representative  of  the  family. 

Pierce  Butler 

Pierce  Butler,  Viscount  Galmoy,  descended 
from  the  tenth  Earl  of  Ormond,  was  born  March 
21,  1652.  In  1677  he  took  the  degree  of  LL.  D. 
at  Oxford.  Under  James  II.  he  was  Privy-Coun- 
cillor of  Ireland,  Lieutenant  of  County  Kilkenny, 
and  Colonel  of  the  Second  Regiment  of  Irish 
Horse.  He  served  with  distinction  at  the  Boyne 
and  Aughrim,  and  was  one  of  the  signers  of 
the  Treaty  of  Limerick.  He  might  probably 
have  secured  his  old  estates  of  10,000  acres  in 
Kilkenny  and  5,000  in  Wexford,  if  he  had  con- 
sented to  give  his  allegiance  to  William  III.,  in- 
stead of  following  Sarsfield  to  France.  On  the 
establishment  of  the  Irish  troops  in  France  he 
was  made  Colonel  of  the  Second  Queen's  Regi- 
ment of  Horse. 

He  was  at  the  siege  of  Roses  in  1693,  and  in 
1694  was  Brigadier  attached  to  the  army  of  Ger- 
many. He  served  in  Italy  and  other  parts  of 
the  Continent  from  1701  to  1703,  sharing  all  the 
fortunes  of  the  Irish  Brigade.  His  son  fell  at 
Malplaquet,  1709.  Viscount  Galmoy  died  at 
Paris,  June  18,  1740.  O'Callaghan  says:  "The 
successive  claimants  of  the  title  of  Galmoy  were 
officers  in  France  down  to  the  Revolution,  in 
whose  armies,  as  well  as  in  others,  various  gen- 
tlemen have  honorably  represented  a  name  of 
which  the  illustrious  General  Lafayette  is  related 
to  have  said,  in  the  war  for  the  independence  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  that  'whenever 
he  wanted  anything  well  done,  he  got  a  Butler  to 
do  it.'  " 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  185 

Richard  Butler 

Richard  Butler,  Viscount  Mountg-arret,  de- 
scended from  the  eighth  Earl  of  Ormond,  was 
born  in  1578.  His  first  wife  was  Margaret,  eld- 
est daughter  of  Hugh  O'Neill;  and,  taking  part 
with  his  father-in-law,  he  particularly  distin- 
guished himself  by  the  defense  of  the  castles  of 
Ballyragget  and  Cullahill.  Nevertheless,  his  es- 
tates were  confirmed  to  him  both  by  James  I. 
and  Charles  I.  At  the  commencement  of  hostili- 
ties in  1641  he  appeared  inclined  to  espouse  the 
Government  side,  and  was  appointed  Governor 
of  Kilkenny.  Fearing,  however,  that  the  rights 
and  liberties  of  his  Catholic  brethren  would  be 
still  further  interfered  with,  he  wrote  an  explan- 
atory letter  to  the  Earl  of  Ormond,  and  took 
possession  of  Kilkenny  in  the  name  of  the  Con- 
federates. 

He  endeavored  to  protect  the  lives  and  prop- 
ertv  of  the  Protestants  without  relaxing  his  ef- 
forts  for  the  side  he  had  espoused.  Early  m 
the  war  he  secured  all  the  towns  and  forts  in 
Kilkenny,  in  Waterford,  and  Tipperary,  and 
marched  into  Munster  and  took  Knockordan  and 
Mallow,  and  other  strongholds.  Unfortunately 
for  the  Confederates,  Cork  objected  to  his  juris- 
diction, and  insisted  upon  the  appointment  of  a 
general  of  its  own.  Thus  were  lost  the  advan- 
tages of  undivided  and  vigorous  control  of  the 
Confederate  armies.  April  13,  1642,  he  was  de- 
feated at  the  battle  of  Kilrush,  near  Athy,  by  the 
Earl  of  Ormond.  Soon  after,  he  was  chosen 
President  of  the  Supreme  Council  of  Kilkenny. 

In  1643  he  was  at  the  battle  of  Ross,  and  at 
the  capture,  by  his  son  Edmund,  of  the  Castle  of 
Borris,  in  Queen's  County;   also  at  the  siege  of 


i86  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Ballynakill,  a  fortress  that  had  held  out  bravely 
for  eighteen  months.  Viscount  Mountgarret  was 
outlawed  by  Cromwell,  and  excepted  from  par- 
don for  life  or  estate.  He  died  in  1651,  and  was 
interred  in  St.  Canice's  Church,  Kilkenny.  His 
son  was  eventually  restored  to  his  estates  and 
honors  by  Charles  II.  This  branch  of  the  But- 
lers is  now  represented  by  Henry  Edmund  But- 
ler, fourteenth  Viscount  Mountgarret. 

Maurice  FitzGerald 

Maurice  FitzGerald,  first  Earl  of  Desmond, 
was  a  descendant  of  Maurice  FitzGerald,  one  of 
the  original  Norman  invaders  of  Ireland  in  1169. 
The  first  earl  was  called  "Maurice  the  Great," 
and  appears  to  have  taken  the  place  of  his 
elder  brother,  who  died  young.  He  was  Lord- 
Justice  of  Ireland,  had  livery  of  Decies  and  Des- 
mond in  1312,  of  Kerry  in  1315,  and  was  created 
Earl  of  Desmond  August  22,  1329.  He  married, 
at  Greencastle,  August  16,  1312,  Margaret,  fifth 
daughter  of  Richard  de  Burgo  (the  Red  Earl  of 
Ulster),  who  died  in  1331;  and,  secondly,  Ave- 
line,  or  Ellinor,  daughter  of  Nicholas  FitzMau- 
rice,  third  Lord  of  Kerry  and  Lixnaw.  He  took 
an  active  part  in  the  war  against  Bruce  in  Scot- 
land. In  contest  with  the  O'Nolans  and  O'Mur- 
roughs,  in  13v30,  he  first  introduced  the  practice 
of  "coigne  and  livery,"  or  quartering  soldiers  on 
the  inhabitants  of  the  district  they  were  sent  to 
protect. 

About  this  time  the  Anglo-Normans  began 
to  adopt  Irish  customs  and  names,  and  throw 
off  English  authority.  Their  estrangement  was 
hastened  by  an  Act  of  the  English  Parliament 
under  Edward  III.,  confining  offices  in  Ireland 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  187 

to  those  who  had  estates  in  England,  which  irri- 
tated the  Anglo-Norman  party,  and  Desmond 
and  others  called  a  counter  parliament  at  Kil- 
kenny. Ufford,  the  Lord  -  Justice,  marched 
against  them,  seized  Desmond's  estates,  and 
threw  him  into  prison.  After  Ufford's  death, 
Desmond  made  his  peace,  attended  Edward  III. 
to  the  French  war  with  twenty  men-at-arms  and 
fifty  hobellars,  and  had  his  estates  restored  to 
him. 

"In  consequence  of  his  having  been  sneer- 
ingly  termed  'rhymer'  by  Baron  Arnold  le  Poer, 
at  a  public  assembly,  this  Maurice  embarked  in  a 
fierce  intestine  strife,  the  nobles  of  Ireland  band- 
ing themselves  on  the  opposite  sides.  Such  rav- 
ages were  committed  that  the  towns  were  obliged 
to  provide  garrisons  for  their  own  protection, 
and  royal  writs  were  issued  from  England,  order- 
ing the  Le  Poers  and  Geraldines  to  desist  from 
levying  forces  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  each 
other;  but  to  little  purpose."  The  first  earl  died 
in  Dublin  January  25,  1355,  and  was  buried  at 
Tralee. 

Maurice  FitzGerald 

Maurice  FitzGerald,  second  earl  of  Des- 
mond, son  of  preceding.  By  his  wife,  Beatrix, 
daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Stafford,  he  had  but  a 
daughter,  who  married  Donald  Oge  MacCarthy 
Mor.  He  was  drowned  or  died  a  natural  death 
in  1358,  and  was  buried  in  Tralee  Abbey. 

Nicholas  FitzGerald 

Nicholas  FitzGerald,  third  Earl  of  Des- 
mond, brother  of  preceding.  Being  an  idiot. 
King  Edward  III.  granted  custody  of  the  Des- 


i88  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

mond   estates   to   his  younger  brother,   Gerald. 
Nicholas  died  childless  in  1367. 

Gerald  FitzGerald 

Gerald  FitzGerald,  fourth  Earl  of  Desmond, 
half-brother  of  preceding,  surnamed  "Gerald  the 
Poet,"  succeeded  to  the  estates  and  honors  of 
the  family.  He  married,  by  the  King's  command, 
Eleanor,  daughter  of  James,  second  Earl  of  Or- 
mond,  who  gave  her  for  portion  the  barony  of 
Inchiquin  in  Imokelly.  Gerald  was  Lord-Justice 
of  Ireland,  1367.  In  1398  he  disappeared,  and  is 
fabled  to  live  beneath  the  waters  of  Lough  Gur, 
near  Kilmallock,  on  whose  banks  he  appears  once 
every  seven  years. 

O'Donovan  quotes  the  following  concern- 
ing his  character:  "A  nobleman  of  wonderful 
bounty,  mirth,  cheerfulness  in  conversation, 
charitable  in  his  deeds,  easy  of  access,  a  witty 
and  ingenious  composer  of  Irish  poetry,  and  a 
learned  and  profound  chronicler;  and,  in  fine, 
one  of  the  English  nobility  that  had  Irish  learn- 
ing and  professors  thereof  in  greatest  reverence 
of  all  the  English  in  Ireland."  Fragments  of 
Anglo-Norman  verse  attributed  to  him,  known  as 
"Proverbs  of  the  Earl  of  Desmond,"  survive. 

John  FitzGerald 

John  FitzGerald,  fifth  Earl  of  Desmond,  son 
of  preceding,  was  drowned  near  Ardfinnan,  on 
the  Suir,  when  returning  with  his  followers  from 
an  incursion  into  the  Earl  of  Ormond's  territory, 
March  4,  1399,  and  was  buried  at  Youghal.  He 
married,  according  to  one  account,  Mary  Bourke ; 
or,  according  to  Lodge,  Joan,  daughter  of  the 
Lord  of  Fermoy. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  189 

Thomas  FitzGerald 

Thomas  FitzGerald,  sixth  Earl  of  Desmond, 
son  of  preceding,  was  deprived  of  his  earldom  in 
1418,  on  account  of  his  marriage  with  Catherine, 
daughter  of  William  MacCormac  of  Abbeyfeale, 
one  of  his  dependants.  The  romantic  incident  of 
his  meeting  Catherine  as  he  was  out  hunting  is 
told  in  Moore's  lines,  commencing:  "By  the 
Feal's  wave  benighted."  The  alliance  was  so 
unfavorably  regarded  by  his  family  that  he 
abandoned  his  estates  and  retired  to  France.  He 
died  at  Rouen,  August  10,  1420,  and  was  buried 
at  Paris  ''with  great  and  mighty  show,  where 
the  two  kings  of  England  and  France  were  pres- 
ent." It  is  said  that  by  his  wife  he  left  two 
sons, — Maurice,  ancestor  of  the  FitzGeralds  of 
Adare  and  Broghill,  and  John  Claragh,  who  died 
in  1452. 

James  FitzGerald 

James  FitzGerald,  seventh  Earl  of  Desmond, 
uncle  of  preceding,  son  of  the  fourth  earl,  sur- 
named  *'J^n^^s  the  Usurper."  One  of  the  chief 
instruments  in  compelling  his  nephew's  exile,  he 
seized  his  estates,  but  was  not  generally  acknowl- 
edged as  earl  until  1422.  In  the  same  year  he 
was  made  Constable  of  Limerick,  and  two  years 
afterwards  obtained  the  custody  of  Limerick, 
Waterford,  Cork,  and  Kerry.  He  married  Mary, 
eldest  daughter  of  Ulick  de  Burgo.  He  was  re- 
lieved from  the  duty  of  attending  Parliament  in 
1445.  He  and  the  Earl  of  Ormond  were  god- 
fathers to  George,  afterwards  Duke  of  Clarence. 

The  following  is  a  portion  of  a  letter  ad- 
dressed to  him  as  a  descendant  of  the  Geraldines 


190  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

in  1440,  in  the  name  of  the  Florentine  Republic: 
"Magnificent  lord  and  dearest  friend:  If  it  be 
true,  as  is  publickly  stated,  that  your  progeni- 
tors were  of  Florentine  origin,  and  of  the  right 
noble  and  antique  stock  of  the  Gherardini,  still 
one  of  the  highest  and  greatest  families  of  our 
states,  we  have  ample  reason  to  rejoice  and  con- 
gratulate ourselves  that  our  people  have  not  only 
acquired  possessions  in  Apulia,  Greece,  and  Hun- 
gary, but  that  our  Florentines,  through  you  and 
yours,  bear  sway  even  in  Ibernia,  the  most  remote 
island  of  the  world."  By  the  Earl  of  Ormond  he 
was  appointed  Seneschal  of  Imokelly,  Inchiquin, 
and  Youghal,  and  founded  the  monastery  of 
Franciscans  at  Askeaton.  He  died  in  1462,  and 
was  buried  in  the  Friary  of  Youghal. 

Thomas  FitzGerald 

Thomas  FitzGerald,  eighth  Earl  of  Des- 
mond, son  of  the  preceding,  was  in  1463  ap- 
pointed Lord-Deputy  under  the  Duke  of  Clar- 
ence. On  assuming  the  government  he  was  op- 
posed by  5,000  of  the  English  of  Meath,  whom  he 
soon  reduced  to  obedience.  On  many  other  occa- 
sions he  had  to  take  the  field  both  against  the 
"King's  English  rebels,"  and  the  "King's  Irish 
enemy."  The  Irish  Parliament,  in  letters  to  the 
King,  referred  to  the  great  services  which  he 
"at  intolerable  charges,"  and  "in  jeopardy  of  his 
life,  rendered  to  the  reigning  monarch,  as  well 
as  to  his  father,  the  right  noble  and  famous  prince 
of  blessed  memory,  Richard  Duke  of  York.  They 
certified  that  he  was  and  ever  had  been  the  King's 
true  and  faithful  liegeman,  governing  himself  al- 
ways by  English  laws,  and  by  those  who  were 
well-wishers  to  his  Highness.     By  God's  grace 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  191 

and  the  great  travail  and  labor  of  the  Deputy, 
the  land,  they  wrote  was  in  a  reasonable  state  of 
peace  and  tranquillity.  The  Parliament  prayed 
that  it  might  please  the  King  to  bear  in  remem- 
brance the  great  services,  costs,  and  charges,  of 
the  Earl  Thomas,  to  have  him  in  tenderness  and 
special  favor,  and  to  reward  him  according  to 
his  wisdom  and  bounty." 

In  1464  he  founded  the  collegiate  church  of 
Youghal.  In  1467  he  was  succeeded  in  the  gov- 
ernment by  John  Tiptoft,  Earl  of  Worcester, 
"who  caused  him  to  be  attainted  of  treason  in 
a  parliament  held  at  Drogheda,  with  the  Earl 
of  Kildare  and  Edward  Plunket,  for  alliances, 
fosterage,  and  alterage  with  the  Irish;  for  fur- 
nishing them  with  horse  and  arms,  and  support- 
ing them  against  the  King's  subjects;  for  which 
he  was  beheaded,  February  15,  1467,  at  Drogheda, 
and  was  there  buried  in  St.  Peter's  Church." 
Lodge  makes  the  following  statement  in  a  note: 
"His  tomb  was  removed,  by  order  of  Sir  Henry 
Sidney,  to  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity  in 
Dublin,  where  it  seems  to  represent  the  person 
of  Earl  Strongbow,  whose  monument  was  broken 
by  the  fall  of  the  roof  of  the  church  on  Whit- 
sun-eve,  1572."  He  married  Ellice,  daughter  of 
John,  Lord  Barry  of  Buttevant.  Three  of  his 
sons,  James,  Maurice  and  Thomas,  became  Earls 
of  Desmond.  One  account  attributes  his  death 
to  the  intrigues  of  King  Edward  IV.'s  Queen, 
Elizabeth  Gray,  who  was  jealous  of  Desmond's 
influence  over  her  husband. 

James  FitzGerald 

James  FitzGerald,  ninth  Earl  of  Desmond, 
was  born  in  1459,  and  succeeded  on  his  father's 


192  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

execution  in  1467.  O'Daly  says:  "Now  James 
FitzThomas,  having  made  terms  with  King  Ed- 
ward, and  received  immunity  for  any  act  which 
he  had  committed  to  avenge  his  father's  death, 
became  Earl  of  Desmond.  He  was  a  man  of 
singular  prudence,  and  largely  to  tlie  detriment 
of  the  Irish  did  he  increase  the  territories  he  had 
acquired."  He  married  Margaret,  daughter  of 
Thady  O'Brien,  Prince  of  Thomond.  King  Rich- 
ard HI.  endeavored  to  attach  him  to  his  interests, 
and  sent  him  a  golden  collar  weighing  20  ounces, 
with  the  device  of  a  white  boar,  pendant  from  a 
circlet  of  roses  and  suns;  also  a  "long  gown  of 
cloth  of  gold,  lined  with  satin  or  damask;  two 
doublets,  one  of  velvet,  and  another  of  crimson 
satin;  three  shirts  and  kerchiefs;  three  stomach- 
ers; three  pair  of  hose — one  of  scarlet,  one  of  vio- 
let, and  the  third  of  black;  three  bonnets;  two 
hats;  and  two  tippets  of  velvet." 

Notwithstanding  these  blandishments,  the 
Earl  augmented  his  Irish  alliances,  and  retained 
his  Irish  habits.  He  was  slain  at  Rathkeale,  De- 
cember 7,  1487,  "possibly  at  the  instigation  of  his 
brother  and  successor,"  and  was  buried  at 
Youghal.  His  sister  Catherine  married  the  Mac- 
Carthy  Reagh.  A  book  once  her  property  (now 
known  as  the  Book  of  Lismore),  was  discovered 
in  a  wall  in  Lismore  Castle  in  1811. 

Maurice  FitzGerald. 

Maurice  FitzGerald,  tenth  Earl  of  Desmond, 
succeeded  on  the  death  of  his  brother  in  1487. 
Being  lame,  and  usually  carried  in  a  horse-litter, 
he  was  styled  "Vehiculus,"  and  by  some,  on  ac- 
count of  his  bravery,  "Bellicosus."  He  sided 
with  the  pretender,  Perkin  Warbeck,  in  the  siege 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  193 

of  Waterford  and  other  expeditions.  Neverthe- 
less, making  submission,  the  King  not  only  for- 
gave, but  took  him  into  favor,  August  26,  1497, 
and  granted  him  all  the  ''customs,  cockets, 
poundage,  and  prize-whines  of  Limerick,  Cork, 
Kinsale,  Baltimore,  and  Youghal,  v^ith  other 
privileges  and  advantages." 

The  condition  of  the  inhabitants  within  the 
Pale  at  this  period  is  thus  described  by  a  contem- 
porary writer:  "What  with  the  extortion  of 
coyne  and  livery  daily,  and  with  the  wrongful 
exaction  of  collecting  money,  and  of  carriage  and 
cartage  daily,  and  what  with  the  King's  great 
support  yearly,  and  with  the  said  tribute,  and 
black-rent  to  the  King's  Irish  enemies,  and  other 
infinite  extortions,  and  daily  exactions,  all  the 
English  .  .  .  are  more  oppressed  than  any  other 
folks  of  this  land." 

O'Daly  thus  writes  of  Earl  Maurice:  "This 
man  was  subsequently  far  famed  for  his  martial 
exploits.  He  augmented  his  power  and  posses- 
sions,'— for  all  his  sympathies  were  English — 
and  a  furious  scourge  was  he  to  the  Irish,  who 
never  ceased  to  rebel  against  the  crown  of  Eng- 
land. The  bitterest  enemy  of  the  Geraldines  he 
made  his  prisoner,  to  wit,  MacCarthy  Mor,  Lord 
of  Muskerry ;  and  now  having  passed  thirty  years 
opulent,  powerful,  and  dreaded,  he  died  (in  1520) 
to  the  sorrow  of  his  friends  and  the  exultation  of 
his  enemies."  He  was  buried  at  Tralee.  His  first 
wife  was  daughter  of  Lord  Eermoy;  his  second, 
daughter  of  the  White  Knight. 

James  FitzGerald. 

James  FitzGerald,  eleventh  Earl  of  Des- 
mond, succeeded  on  his  father's  death  in  1520. 


194  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

In  1529  he  preferred  fealty  to  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.,  and  declared  himself  willing  to  enter 
into  a  league  against  England.  The  Emperor 
commissioned  his  chaplain  to  visit  Ireland.  The 
report  of  his  mission  to  Dingle,  of  the  resources 
of  the  country,  of  the  demeanor  of  the  Earl,  and 
his  reasons  for  hostility  to  England,  are  ex- 
tremely interesting. 

The  chaplain  writes:  "The  Earl  himself  is 
from  thirty  to  forty  years  old,  and  is  rather  above 
the  middle  height.  He  keeps  better  justice 
throughout  his  dominions  than  any  other  chief  in 
Ireland.  Robbers  and  homicides  find  no  mercy, 
and  are  executed  out  of  hand.  His  people  are  in 
high  order  and  discipline.  They  are  armed  with 
short  bows  and  swords.  The  Earl's  guard  are  in 
a  mail  from  neck  to  heel,  and  carry  halberds.  He 
has  also  a  number  of  horse,  some  of  whom  know 
how  to  break  a  lance.  They  all  ride  admirably, 
without  saddle  or  stirrup."  He  died  at  Dingle, 
June  18,  1529,  and  was  buried  with  his  father  at 
Tralee.  He  had  but  one  legitimate  child,  Amy, 
who  married  (1)  the  ninth  Earl  of  Ormond,  (2) 
Sir  Francis  Bryan,  Lord-Justice,  (3)  Gerald,  fif- 
teenth Earl  of  Desmond. 

Thomas  FitzGerald. 

Sir  Thomas  FitzGerald,  twelfth  Earl  of  Des- 
mond, uncle  of  preceding,  brother  of  the  tenth 
Earl,  born  in  1454,  succeeded  on  his  nephew's 
death  in  1529.  He  was  known  as  "Sir  Thomas 
the  Bald,"  and  "Thomas  the  Victorious."  "Far- 
famed  was  he  in  feats  of  arms;  in  nine  battles  did 
he  win  the  palm  of  victory.  .  .  .  Another 
subject  for  congratulation  had  this  Earl — the 
two  Lords  of  Muskerry  fell  beneath  his  sword." 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  195 

He  took  up  the  intrigues  of  his  predecessor. 
Lodge  tells  us  that  "the  King  without  hesitation 
established  him  in  the  earldom,  merely  endeavor- 
ing with  friendly  phrases  to  induce  him  to  send 
his  grandson  and  heir  to  his  Majesty's  court, 
which,  with  phrases  equally  amiable,  the  Earl 
showed  the  impossibility  of  his  doing."  Eventu- 
ally embarrassments  attendant  on  the  question  of 
the  succession  obliged  him  to  make  every  profes- 
sion of  loyalty  to  the  King.  He  died  at  Rath- 
keale  in  1534,  and  was  buried  at  Youghal. 

James  FitzGerald 

James  FitzGerald,  thirteenth  Earl  of  Des- 
mond, grandson  of  the  12th  Earl,  called  the 
"Court  Page,"  having  been  hostage  for  his  grand- 
father at  the  court  of  Windsor.  On  the  earldom 
becoming  vacant  in  1534,  "the  King  loaded  him 
with  honors,  and  fitted  out  ships  to  accompany 
him  to  the  Irish  shores,  and  provided  him  with  a 
number  of  men  who  were  ready  to  stand  by  him 
against  those  who  were  inclined  to  dispute  his 
title  to  the  patrimonial  honors  and  inheritance." 

His  title  to  the  Earldom  was  disputed  by  his 
grand-uncle,  Sir  John,  who  being  supported  by  a 
large  faction,  was  de  facto  the  13th  Earl.  This 
Sir  John  died  about  Christmas,  1536.  The  "Court 
Page"  did  not  long  enjoy  his  honors,  for  he  was 
slain  at  Leacan  Sgail  in  Kerry,  by  his  cousin, 
Maurice  an  Totane,  son  of  his  late  opponent, 
March  19,  1540.  He  married  a  daughter  of  his 
grand-uncle,  Cormac  Oge  MacCarthy. 

James  FitzGerald 

Sir  James  FitzGerald,  fourteenth  Earl  of 
Desmond,  son  of  Sir  John,  de  facto  the  13th  Earl, 


196  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

succeeded  on  his  cousin's  death  in  1540.  He  is 
called  by  English  writers  the  "Traitor  Earl."  In 
1538  he  had  written  to  the  Pope,  declaring-  that 
an  army  of  30,000  Spaniards  would  ensure  the 
conquest  of  Ireland,  proposing  that  Ireland 
be  annexed  to  the  Holy  See,  and  offering  to 
undertake  the  government  as  viceroy,  paying  a 
revenue  to  Pope  Paul  of  100,000  ducats.  "The  ex- 
pedition would  be  costly,  but  the  expenses  would 
fall  neither  on  his  Holiness  nor  on  the  Emperor. 
Desmond,  with  armed  privateers,  would  seize  and 
deliver  into  the  hands  of  the  Pope  the  persons  of 
a  sufficient  number  of  the  heretical  English, 
whose  ransoms  would  defray  the  necessary  out- 
lay." 

In  July,  1539,  he  came  out  in  open  arms 
against  the  English  power,  in  conjunction  with 
O'Neill,  but  he  was  soon  overcome  by  Viscount 
Thurles,  who  seized  upon  his  castle  at  Lough 
Gur.  Having  surrendered  and  obtained  letters 
from  the  Lord-Deputy,  he  sailed  from  Howth  in 
1542,  went  to  London,  made  submission  to  King 
Henry  VIIL,  was  kindly  received,  reinstated  in 
his  ancient  patrimony,  and  sent  back  with  the 
titles  of  Treasurer  of  Ireland  and  President  of 
Munster.  He  is  afterwards  said  to  have  "lived 
in  honour  and  prosperity,"  until  he  died  at  Askea- 
ton,  October  14,  1558.  He  was  there  buried  in 
the  Franciscan  Friary.  The  14th  Earl  was  four 
times  married — to  daughters  of  Lord  Fermoy, 
Lord  Ely  O'Carroll,  8th  Earl  of  Ormond,  and 
Donald  MacCarthy  Mor. 

Gerald  FitzGerald 

Gerald  FitzGerald,  fifteenth  Earl  of  Des- 
mond, son  of  preceding  by  his  second  wife,  sue- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  197 

ceeded  on  the  death  of  his  father  in  1558.  He  is 
known  to  English  writers  as  the  "Rebel  Earl." 
''Soon  after  his  father's  death,"  says  O'Daly, 
"surrounded  by  a  noble  retinue  of  100  youths,  all 
of  honorable  birth,  he  proceeded  to  do  homage 
to  the  Queen,  by  whom  he  was  graciously  re- 
ceived, and  restored  to  all  his  ancestral  honors 
by  a  new  patent."  Sir  Thomas,  his  elder  half- 
brother,  by  his  father's  first  marriage,  afterwards 
annulled  as  contracted  within  degrees  of  consan- 
guinity, was  for  a  short  time  recognized  as  Earl. 

Gerald  was,  however,  chosen  by  the  septs 
of  Desmond,  and  his  claim  was  eventually  al- 
lowed by  the  government.  Thomas  took  no  part 
with  his  brothers  in  the  succeeding  convulsions, 
and  died  at  his  castle  of  Connagh,  near  Youghal, 
January  18,  1595.  Earl  Gerald  sat  in  a  parlia- 
ment held  in  Dublin  in  1559.  For  many  years  he 
was  engaged  in  bloody  and  aimless  feuds  with  the 
Butlers  and  O'Briens.  February  15,  1564,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  levy  imposts  on  Sir  Maurice  FitzGerald 
of  Decies,  a  relative  of  the  Butlers.  Sir  Maurice 
applied  to  the  latter  for  aid,  and  a  battle  was 
fought  at  Affane,  on  the  Blackwater,  two  miles 
south  of  Cappoquin,  where  the  Earl  of  Desmond 
was  wounded  and  made  a  prisoner.  While  being 
carried  on  a  litter  from  the  field,  one  of  his  cap- 
tors is  said  to  have  tauntingly  asked:  "Where 
now  is  the  proud  Earl  of  Desmond?"  to  which  he 
rejoined;  "Where  he  ought  to  be,  still  upon  the 
necks  of  the  Butlers."  The  Earl  appears  to  have 
been  liberated  soon  afterwards. 

Sir  Henry  Sidney,  in  his  progress  through 
Munster  in  January,  1567,  speaks  of  the  Earl  as 
"a  man  both  devoid  of  judgment  to  govern,  and 
will  to  be  ruled,"  and  describes  his  territories  as 
in  a  wretched  plight.    "Like  as  I  never  was  in  a 


198  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

more  pleasant  country  in  all  my  life,  so  never  saw 
I  a  more  waste  and  desolate  land.  .  .  .  Such 
horrible  and  lamentable  spectacles  are  there  to 
behold  as  the  burning  of  villages,  the  ruin  of 
churches,  the  wasting  of  such  as  have  been  good 
towns  and  castles."  He  was  especially  severe 
against  the  Earl  for  the  mismanagement  of 
his  estates,  and  being  likewise  fearful  of  his 
strong  Catholic  proclivities,  seized  him  at  Kilmal- 
lock,  and  carried  him  about  in  durance  the  re- 
mainder of  his  progress.  The  sons  of  the  Earl 
of  Clanricard  were  also  captured  in  Connaught, 
and  the  Lord-Deputy  returned  to  Dublin  with 
his  prisoners  the  16th  of  April.  "He  had  caused 
numberless  malefactors  to  be  executed  in  the 
course  of  his  visitation." 

In  October,  Sidney  proceeded  to  England, 
bringing  with  him  the  Earl  of  Desmond  and  his 
brother  Sir  John,  Hugh  O'Neill,  the  O'Conor 
Sligo,  and  other  chieftains.  The  Earl  and  his 
brother  Sir  John  were  detained  captives  for  six 
years  in  the  Tower  of  London,  while  their  cousin, 
James  FitzMaurlce  FitzGerald  assumed  the  lead- 
ership of  the  family,  and  carried  on  those  hostil- 
ities against  the  government  that  will  be  found 
detailed  in  his  life.  After  their  cousin's  submis- 
sion in  1573,  they  were  set  free  and  received  at 
court.  A  ship  was  furnished  to  convey  them  to 
Dublin,  where,  however,  the  Earl  was  detained 
under  an  honorable  arrest,  while  Sir  John  was 
permitted  to  return  to  Munster.  Before  long  the 
Earl  managed  to  escape  while  out  hunting,  and 
although  large  rewards  were  offered  for  his 
arrest,  he  was  soon  safe  among  his  followers  in 
the  fastnesses  of  Desmond  (North  Munster). 
During  the  O'Neill  wars  of  the  following  months 
he  remained  neutral. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  199 

In  May,  1574,  the  Earl  met  at  Waterford  by 
appointment  the  Earl  of  Essex  and  the  Earl  of 
Kildare,  and  under  the  protection  of  a  safe  con- 
duct returned  with  them  to  Dublin.  There  he 
was  informed  that  the  Queen  desired  his  presence 
in  London;  but  remembering  his  former  captiv- 
ity, he  made  many  excuses,  and  Essex  honorably 
conducted  him  to  the  frontiers  of  the  Pale. 
Shortly  afterwards  he  surrendered  Castlemaine 
and  Castlemartyr,  which  were  occupied  by  Eng- 
lish garrisons.  In  other  respects  his  authority 
over  his  feudal  principality  was  left  undisturbed, 
and  he  passed  for  a  loyal  subject.  In  the  autumn 
of  1575  he  proffered  Sir  Henry  Sidney  his  ser- 
vices against  the  northern  chieftains.  In  1576 
he  was  brought  into  collision  with  the  new  Presi- 
dent of  Munster,  Sir  William  Drury.  He  pro- 
tested against  the  holding  of  courts  within  his 
palatinate;  but  finding  Drury  obdurate,  and  about 
proceeding  to  Tralee  to  hold  a  sessions,  he  made 
a  virtue  of  necessity,  and  offered  the  hospitality 
of  his  castle. 

On  approaching  Tralee,  the  President  pe/- 
ceived  about  800  armed  men  retiring  into  the 
woods.  The  Countess  of  Desmond  met  him  out- 
side the  town  and  assured  him  that  her  lord  had 
no  hostile  intention,  but  that,  his  visit  being  un- 
expected, the  forces  had  assembled  for  a  general 
hunting.  Shortly  afterwards  Drury  seized  Sir 
John  of  Desmond  in  Cork,  on  suspicion  of  trea- 
sonable practices,  and  sent  him  under  an  escort 
to  Dublin. 

When  James  FitzMaurice  FitzGerald  landed 
with  the  Papal  expedition  at  Smerwick,  in  1579, 
the  Earl  maintained  a  semblance  of  loyalty,  and 
even  forwarded  to  Dublin  his  cousin's  letters. 
Sir  John,  who  appears  to  have  been  liberated,  and 


200  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Sir  James,  hastened  to  meet  their  cousin  and  his 
allies.  The  Lord-Justice,  who  was  in  Cork,  im- 
mediately despatched  Henry  Davells,  Constable 
of  Dungarvan,  and  Arthur  Carter,  Provost-Mar- 
shal of  Munster,  to  summon  the  Earl  of  Desmond 
and  his  brothers  to  attack  James  FitzMaurice  and 
the  Spaniards.  They  were  extremely  officious  and 
insolent  to  the  Earl,  reconnoitred  the  fort  at 
Smerwick,  where  James  FitzMaurice  and  the 
Spaniards  were  entrenched,  and  were  on  their 
way  back  to  Cork,  when  they  were  slain  by  Sir 
John  in  a  little  inn  at  Tralee.  "The  deed  was  ag- 
gravated by  the  fact  that  Sir  John  and  Davells 
had  been  intimate  friends." 

A  few  days  after  James  FitzMaurice's  death 
in  August,  1579,  the  Earl  met  Sir  William  Drury 
at  Kilmallock,  and  endeavored  to  clear  himself 
from  the  charge  of  complicity  in  his  cousin's 
proceedings.  After  being  kept  under  arrest  for 
three  days,  he  was  liberated  on  undertaking  to 
send  in  his  only  son,  James,  as  a  hostage.  He  re- 
ceived a  promise  that  his  lands  and  tenants 
should  be  respected — an  engagement  violated  al- 
most as  soon  as  made.  Most  of  the  earl's  forces 
went  over  to  Sir  John  of  Desmond,  who  took  his 
cousin  James  FitzMaurice's  place — the  Spanish 
officers  materially  assisting  in  disciplining  these 
irregular  levies.  Sir  William  Drury,  on  the  other 
hand,  collected  a  considerable  army,  chiefly  com- 
posed of  Catholic  Irish.  In  an  engagement  that 
ensued  between  a  portion  of  these  forces  and 
those  under  Sir  John  and  Sir  James,  at  Spring- 
field, in  the  south  of  County  Tipperary,  the  latter 
were  successful.  Shortly  afterwards,  in  Septem- 
ber, Sir  William  Drury  sickened  of  the  fatigues 
of  the  campaign,  and  died  at  Waterford,  where- 
upon the  command  of  the  royal  forces  devolved 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  201 

upon  Sir  Nicholas  Malby,  who  was  reinforced  by 
600  Devonshiremen,  landed  at  Waterford.  A 
fleet  also  hovered  off  the  coast  under  the  com- 
mand of  Sir  John  Perrot. 

Leaving  300  foot  and  50  horse  at  Kilmallock, 
Malby  early  in  October  marched  with  some  600 
of  his  army  to  Limerick;  then  turning  south, 
he  encountered  and  gave  battle  to  Sir  John  and 
Sir  James  with  vastly  superior  forces,  two  miles 
from  Croom.  For  a  time  victory  seemed  unde- 
cided. Malby's  lines  were  twice  broken;  but 
ultimately  the  Geraldines  were  routed  with  the 
loss  of  Thomas  FitzGerald,  the  Earl's  cousin, 
and  some  260  men.  The  Earl  of  Desmond  and 
FitzMaurice,  Lord  of  Lixnaw,  watched  the  prog- 
ress of  this  engagement  from  the  top  of  Tory 
Hill,  little  more  than  a  mile  distant,  and  late  in 
the  evening  sent  to  congratulate  Malby  on  his 
victory.  This  message  was  treated  with  con- 
tempt— there  being  little  doubt  that  the  earl 
would  in  any  case  have  congratulated  the  win- 
ning side — and  Malby  proceeded  to  lay  waste 
Desmond's  territory  in  the  neighborhood.  Askea- 
ton,  Rathkeale,  and  Adare,  were  given  to  the 
flames. 

October  30,  the  Earl  of  Ormond,  acting  un- 
der Malby,  demanded  that  Desmond  should  give 
up  the  Papal  Nuncio  (Dr.  Saunders),  and  sur- 
render for  the  Queen's  service  the  castles  of  Car- 
rigfoyle  and  Askeaton.  Desmond  hesitated; 
November  2,  a  proclamation  was  issued  declaring 
him  a  traitor  unless  he  submitted  within  twenty 
days,  and  the  next  day  the  Queen's  troops 
marched  into  the  earl's  palatinate  of  Kerry,  and 
the  Earl  of  Ormond  was  constituted  governor  of 
all  Munster,     The  reluctant  Earl  of  Desmond 


202  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

was  forced  to  choose  a  side,  and  he  took  the  field 
with  his  brothers  about  Christmas,  1579. 

The  war  in  which  he  now  found  himself  in- 
volved continued  the  four  remaining  years  of  his 
life.  It  had  already  been  carried  on  by  his  cousin, 
James  FitzMaurice  and  his  brothers  for  nearly 
six  years.  For  ten  years  the  country  was  deso- 
lated by  contentions  of  the  most  sanguinary  and 
merciless  character.  The  conclusion  of  the  war 
found  Munster  well-nigh  depopulated,  and  the 
whole  of  Desmond  parcelled  out  among  new 
proprietors.  The  war  had  its  origin  in  the  effort 
of  Elizabeth  to  impose  English  habits  and  laws, 
and  English  religion  upon  the  people  of  Munster; 
in  the  rapacity  of  adventurers  thirsting  for  the 
confiscation  of  Irish  estates;  and  in  the  almost 
inevitable  contest  between  Elizabeth  and  her 
Catholic  subjects.  The  points  at  issue  were 
clearly  put  by  the  Earl  of  Desmond  himself:  "It 
is  so  that  I  and  my  brother  are  entered  into  the 
defence  of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  the  overthrow 
of  our  country  by  Englishmen,  which  had  over- 
thrown the  Holy  Church,  and  go  about  to  over- 
run our  country,  and  make  it  their  own,  and  to 
make  us  their  bondmen." 

The  earl  was,  however,  unprepared  to  con- 
duct a  successful  insurrection;  no  important  en- 
gagement occurred;  and  his  exploits  were  never 
more  ''than  an  occasional  skirmish  or  plundering 
excursion;  and  he  gradually  sank  into  a  fugitive, 
and  finally  into  a  mere  criminal  fleeing  from  jus- 
tice. .  .  .  The  interest  or  the  existence  of  the 
mass  of  the  people  was  wholly  disregarded.  On 
the  one  hand,  they  were  excited  by  the  promises 
of  Spanish  invasions,  and  succor  which  never 
arrived  (in  sufficient  force  to  effect  anything) ; 
on  the  other,  they  were  trampled  down  and  deci- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  203 

mated  by  way  of  precaution;  and  thus,  from  year 
to  year,  the  plundering  and  killing  went  on,  until 
there  was  nothing  left  to  plunder,  and  very  few 
to  kill."  On  more  than  one  occasion  the  earl 
nobly  refused  terms  for  himself  which  would  in- 
volve the  surrender  of  Dr.  Saunders,  the  Papal 
Legate. 

In  January,  1580,  two  Italian  vessels  with 
powder  arrived  at  Dingle,  bringing  news  that 
he  might  soon  expect  other  forces  from  abroad. 
As  spring  opened  Pelham  and  Ormond  "passed 
through  the  rebel  counties  in  two  companies,  con- 
suming with  fire  all  habitations,  and  executing 
the  people  wherever  they  found  them.  James 
FitzMaurice's  widow  and  her  two  little  girls  were 
discovered  by  the  way,  concealed  in  a  cave.  They 
are  heard  of  no  more,  and  were  probably  slain 
with  the  rest.  The  Irish  annalists  say  that  the 
bands  of  Pelham  and  Ormond  killed  the  blind  and 
the  aged,  women  and  children,  sick  and  idiots, 
sparing  none.  Pelham's  own  words  too  closely 
confirm  the  charge." 

In  August,  1580,  Sir  James  of  Desmond  was 
captured  and  taken  to  Cork.  There  he  was 
hanged  and  quartered,  and  his  head  spiked  over 
one  of  the  city  gates.  In  September,  700  Span- 
iards and  Italians  were  landed  from  four  vessels 
in  Smerwick  harbor.  They  conveyed  arms  for 
5,000  men,  together  with  large  sums  of  money 
and  promises  of  further  aid.  The  fort,  at  Smer- 
wick, garrisoned  by  James  FitzMaurice  and  his 
party  the  previous  year,  was  again  occupied,  re- 
paired and  strengthened.  The  earl  hastened  to 
meet  his  foreign  auxiliaries,  and  some  weeks  were 
spent  in  desultory  excursions  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. October  31,  Lord  Grey,  burning  to  re- 
trieve his  recent  defeat  in  Glenmalure,  encamped 


204  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

with  a  strong  force  under  experienced  officers 
some  eight  miles  from  Smerwick.  Five  days  after- 
wards Admiral  Winter  arrived  with  his  fleet  from 
Kinsale.  Heavy  guns  were  landed,  trenches  op- 
posite the  fort  were  opened  on  the  7th,  and  on 
the  10th  the  Spaniards  surrendered — uncondi- 
tionally, according  to  English  dispatches:  Irish 
authorities  state  that  the  lives  and  liberties  of  the 
soldiers  were  guaranteed. 

After  surrendering,  the  English  commander 
asked  who  they  were,  and  for  what  purpose  they 
had  landed  in  Ireland;  to  which  they  replied  in 
effect  that  they  had  been  brought  over  to  Ireland 
"upon  fair  speeches  and  great  promises,  which 
they  had  found  vain  and  false."  Next  morning 
the  officers  were,  by  Lord  Grey's  orders,  reserved 
for  ransom,  while  the  soldiers  were  slaughtered  in 
cold  blood,  and  a  few  women  and  a  priest  among 
them  were  hanged.  The  bodies,  600  in  all,  were 
stripped  and  laid  out  upon  the  sands — "as  gal- 
lant and  goodly  personages,"  said  Grey,  "as  ever 
were  beheld." 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh  was  one  of  the  officers 
commanding  the  party  who  carried  the  Deputy's 
barbarous  orders  into  execution.  The  war  in 
Munster  now  assumed,  if  possible,  a  more  savage 
character,  and  untold  atrocities  were  committed 
on  both  sides.  A  large  though  diminishing  num- 
ber of  followers  still  surrounded  the  earl  and  his 
countess.  About  July,  1581,  while  encamped  at 
Aghadoe,  Killarney,  he  was  taken  unawares  by 
Captain  Zouch,  many  of  his  men  were  slain,  and 
he  escaped  with  difficulty.  In  September  he  pene- 
trated as  far  as  Cashel,  and  carried  off  to  Aher- 
low  large  spoils  of  cattle  and  other  property.  In 
the  course  of  the  next  winter  Dr.  Saunders,  the 
Papal  Legate,  died  of  cold  and  exposure.     In 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  205 

August,  1581,  one  year  after  his  brother's  death, 
Sir  John  of  Desmond  was  intercepted  (a  spy  hav- 
ing given  information  as  to  his  whereabouts)  at 
Castlelyons  by  Captain  Zouch  with  a  strong 
party,  was  wounded  by  a  spear  thrust,  and  ex- 
pired before  his  enemies  had  carried  him  a  mile. 
His  body  was  thrown  across  his  own  steed,  and 
conveyed  to  Cork,  where  it  was  hanged  in  chains 
— his  head  being  cut  off  for  exposure  on  Dublin 
Castle. 

The  unhappy  earl  now  remained  alone  in 
arms.  While  the  government  offered  terms  to 
such  minor  persons  as  would  submit,  he  was  ex- 
cluded from  mercy.  The  large  rewards  offered 
for  his  capture  appeared  to  attach  the  peasantry 
of  Desmond  only  the  more  to  the  faith  and  for- 
tunes of  their  old  lord.  Hunted  from  place  to 
place,  he  occasionally  dealt  heavy  blows  at  his 
adversaries.  The  Glen  of  Aherlow  was  his  favor- 
ite retreat,  at  other  times  he  frequented  the  woods 
in  the  southwest  of  Limerick,  or  the  fastnesses 
of  Kerry.  He  passed  Christmas  of  this  year  at 
Kilquane,  near  Kilmallock.  There  he  was  sur- 
prised by  a  party  of  soldiers  led  by  a  spy,  John 
Welch ;  the  earl's  retreat  was  surrounded,  and  he 
and  the  countess  only  saved  themselves  by  plung- 
ing into  a  river  hard  by,  and  hiding  in  the  water 
under  an  overhanging  bank  until  the  enemy  had 
retired.  April  28,  1583,  he  wrote  to  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, offering  to  come  to  terms — *'So  as  my  coun- 
try, castles,  possessions,  and  lands,  with  my  son, 
might  be  put  and  left  in  the  hands  and  quiet  pos- 
session of  my  council  and  followers,  and  also  my 
religion  and  conscience  not  barred." 

About  June,  Lady  Desmond,  the  companion 
hitherto  of  all  her  husband's  wanderings,  left 
him,  probably  by  his  own  desire.    Free  from  the 


2o6  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

incumbrance  of  her  presence,  the  aged  earl  wan- 
dered from  glen  to  glen,  and  mountain  to  moun- 
tain, attended  only  by  a  priest  and  three  or  four 
faithful  followers  who  would  not  leave  him. 
''Where  they  did  dress  their  meat,"  says  Hooker, 
"thence  they  would  remove  to  eat  it  in  another 
place,  and  from  thence  go  into  another  place  to 
lie.  In  the  nights  they  would  watch;  in  the  fore- 
noon they  would  be  upon  the  hills  and  mountains 
to  descry  the  country,  and  in  the  afternoon  they 
would  sleep." 

On  the  9th  of  November  he  left  the  woods 
near  Castleisland  and  went  westward  towards 
Tralee.  Some  of  his  kerns  carried  off  some  cows 
and  horses  for  his  use  from  Maurice  MacOwen, 
who  immediately  despatched  messengers  to  Lieu- 
tenant Stanley  at  Dingle,  and  to  his  brothers-in- 
law,  Owen  and  Donnell  Moriarty.  The  two  lat- 
ter followed  in  the  track  of  the  prey,  with  a  band 
of  eighteen  kerns.  At  Castlemaine  they  obtained 
the  assistance  of  a  few  soldiers.  From  Tralee  they 
traced  them  to  Glanageenty.  When  dusk  fell 
they  saw  a  fire  in  the  glen  beneath  them.  At 
dawn  (November  11,  1583),  the  Moriartys  with 
Daniel  O'Kelly,  one  of  the  soldiers,  took  the  lead 
of  the  band  up  the  glen,  and  rushed  with  a  loud 
shout  to  the  cabin  where  the  earl's  party  had 
lain.  All  escaped  except  a  venerable  looking 
man,  a  woman,  and  a  boy.  O'Kelly,  who  entered 
first,  aimed  a  blow  with  his  sword  and  almost 
severed  the  arm  of  the  old  man,  who  cried:  "I  am 
the  Earl  of  Desmond:  spare  my  life."  O'Kelly 
immediately  cut  off  his  head,  which  was  for- 
warded to  London  and  impaled  on  the  bridge. 

His  body,  after  being  concealed  for  some 
time  by  the  peasantry,  was  ultimately  interred  in 
the  little  chapel  of  Kilnamanagh,  near  Castle- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  207 

island.  The  spot  where  the  earl  was  killed  is  still 
pointed  out  as  Bothar-an-Iarla,  and  the  trunk  of 
an  old  tree  under  which  his  body  was  thrown,  re- 
mained in  1850.  So  ended  the  Desmond  war, 
which  it  took  the  English  power  ten  years  to  sup- 
press, though  hardly  one-half  of  Ireland  had  been 
engaged  in  it.  Had  the  whole  island  heartily 
united  against  the  English  there  would  have  been 
a  different  issue  to  the  war.  The  victory  was  terri- 
bly purchased. 

The  entire  province  of  Munster  was  utterly 
depopulated.  Hecatombs  of  helpless  creatures, 
the  aged,  the  sick,  and  the  blind,  the  young 
mother,  and  the  babe  at  the  breast,  had  fallen 
under  the  English  sword.  And  though  the  au- 
thentic details  of  the  struggle  have  been  forgot- 
ten, the  memory  of  a  vague  horror  remains  im- 
printed in  the  national  traditions.  The  whole 
of  Desmond,  extending  over  nearly  four  modern 
counties,  or  800,000  acres,  was  confiscated  to  the 
Crown,  and  the  greater  part  divided  among  Eng- 
lish settlers.  The  countess  appears  to  have  been 
made  an  allowance  by  the  government.  This  was 
afterwards  disallowed,  and  she  was  permitted  to 
live  in  Dublin  Castle.  In  March,  1587,  she  re- 
paired to  Elizabeth,  who  gave  her  a  pension  of 
£200  to  be  paid  in  Ireland,  with  100  marks  for  her 
two  daughters. 

The  earl  left  no  issue  by  his  first  wife, 
daughter  of  the  11th  Earl,  widow  of  James,  Earl 
of  Ormond.  She  died  in  1564,  and  was  buried  at 
Askeaton.  By  his  second  wife,  daughter  of  Lord 
Dunboyne  (who  remarried  Sir  Donough  O'Conor 
Sligo,  and  died  in  1636),  he  left  two  sons  and  five 
daughters.  One  of  these  sons,  James,  16th 
Earl,  born  in  England  in  1571,  is  commonly 
spoken  of  as  the  "Queen's  Earl."  He  was  educated 


2o8  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

in  the  religion  of  the  EstabHshed  Church  and  for 
a  while,  for  political  reasons,  patronized  by  the 
government,  and  sent  over  to  Ireland,  but  was 
soon  recalled  to  London,  where  he  died  in  great 
poverty  in  1601. 


James  FitzMaurice  FitzGerald 

James  FitzMaurice  FitzGerald,  cousin  of  the 
15th  Earl  of  Desmond,  commonly  called  Fitz- 
Maurice, was  born  early  in  the  16th  century.  His 
early  life  abroad  is  thus  referred  to  in  the  Des- 
mond pedigree:  *'In  his  lifetime,  being  a  great 
traveler  in  France,  Spain,  the  Low  Countries, 
Germany,  and  Turkey,  and  a  renowned  Irish 
warrior,  had  letters  of  recommendation  from  the 
King  of  France  to  the  Emperor,  and  from  the 
Emperor  to  the  King  of  Poland,  where  he  was 
honorably  entertained,  and  promoted  for  his 
fighting  against  the  Turks.  In  that  war  he  be- 
haved himself  so  bravely  that  he  won  great  ap- 
plause and  honor  both  for  himself,  his  king,  and 
his  country." 

On  the  imprisonment  of  Gerald,  15th  Earl  of 
Desmond,  and  his  brother,  in  the  Tower  of  Lon- 
don, in  1567,  the  leadership  of  the  family  fell  by 
their  desire  to  James  FitzMaurice.  He  resisted 
the  pretensions  of  Sir  Thomas  FitzGerald  of  Des- 
mond to  his  brother's  earldom.  Sir  Thomas  was 
supported  by  the  Butlers  and  by  FitzMaurice  of 
Kerry.  The  chieftains  of  the  South  and  the 
government  were  also  engaged  in  hostilities.  Old 
title  deeds  were  raked  up,  and  a  number  of  farms 
and  castles  belonging  to  the  Desmonds,  Mac- 
Carthys,  and  Butlers  were  occupied  by  English 
adventurers.    At  this  juncture  Sidney  set  out  on 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  209 

a  military  expedition  into  Munster,  and  the  Earl 
of  Ormond  was  sent  over  to  bring  his  seditious 
brothers  to  order. 

March  2,  1570,  FitzMaurice  invested,  plun- 
dered, and  burned  Kilmallock;  and  in  1571  Sir 
John  Perrot  took  the  field  in  Munster.  Fitz- 
Maurice,  hov^ever,  in  the  w^ilds  of  Aherlow  was 
able  to  set  Perrot  and  his  troops  at  defiance.  At 
the  same  time  a  desultory  warfare  was  waged  by 
the  Irish  chiefs  in  Connaught  and  Ulster.  In 
1572  the  Earl  of  Clanricard  having  been  taken 
prisoner  by  Sir  Edward  Fitton,  his  sons  renewed 
the  war;  multitudes  of  the  Irish  rallied  to  their 
standard,  and  among  the  rest  FitzMaurice.  In 
May  he  went  into  Ulster,  collected  1,500  Scots, 
and  came  down  upon  the  country  bordering  the 
Shannon.  His  first  step  was  to  burn  Athlone. 
Thence  he  moved  down  to  Portumna,  where  he 
was  joined  by  the  De  Burgos,  and  crossed  the 
river  into  Limerick.  Sir  John  Perrot  came  up 
with  him  between  Limerick  and  Kilmallock,  and 
cut  his  forces  in  two.  Perrot  again  surprised 
FitzMaurice  at  Ardagh,  and  killed  thirty  of  his 
Scots ;  a  month-  later  the  Butlers  destroyed  a  hun- 
dred more. 

FitzMaurice  having  encountered  innumer- 
able perils,  forced  his  way  South,  only  to  find  that 
Castlemaine,  the  last  of  his  strongholds,  had  been 
compelled  to  surrender.  He  sustained  himself  in 
the  woods  until  the  following  February  (1573), 
when  he  sent  in  hostages  and  proffered  his  sub- 
mission to  the  president.  This  was  gladly  re- 
ceived; and  he  was  still  powerful  enough  to  en- 
sure his  life  being  preserved.  The  ruined  church 
of  Kilmallock  was  selected  for  the  ceremony  of 
reconciliation. 


210  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

FitzMaurice  after  this  appears  to  have  taken 
up  his  residence  in  France,  and  before  long  was 
engaged  in  plots  for  the  subversion  of  Elizabeth's 
power  in  Ireland.  Having  made  application  un- 
successfully both  to  Henry  III.  of  France  and 
Philip  II.  of  Spain,  to  furnish  him  with  means 
for  an  expedition  against  the  English  power  in 
Ireland,  he  proceeded  to  Rome,  where  he  was 
favorably  received  by  Gregory  XIII.  in  1578.  His 
solicitations  were  warmly  seconded  by  the 
Bishop  of  Killaloe,  and  Dr.  Saunders,  an  English 
ecclesiastic.  The  Pope  granted  a  bull  encourag- 
ing the  Irish  to  fight  for  their  autonomy  and  in 
defence  of  their  religion,  and  an  expedition  was 
fitted  out  under  the  command  of  Stukely,  an 
adventurer — formerly  high  in  the  confidence  of 
Sidney  in  Ireland. 

Stukely  acted  as  admiral  of  the  expedition, 
while  Hercules  Pisano,  an  experienced  sailor,  had 
the  military  command.  The  soldiers  numbered 
about  800.  The  squadron  sailed  from  Civita 
Vecchia.  Touching  at  Lisbon,  he  was  easily  per- 
suaded to  join  Sebastian,  King  of  Portugal,  in  an 
expedition  to  Morocco,  upon  the  promise  of  after 
assistance  in  the  Irish  project.  At  the  battle  of 
Alcansar,  Stukely,  Sebastian,  and  the  greater 
part  of  his  troops  were  killed.  Meanwhile  Fitz- 
Maurice, traveling  by  land  to  Spain,  embarked 
for  Ireland  with  about  eighty  persons  in  three 
small  vessels.  Ofif  the  Land's  End  they  took  a 
couple  of  small  vessels,  and  on  July  17,  1579, 
landed  at  Dingle,  and  crossed  over  to  Smerwick. 

FitzMaurice  sent  a  long  explanatory  letter 
to  the  Earl  of  Desmond,  who  immediately  for- 
warded it  to  the  government  with  assurances  of 
his  loyalty.  He  was,  however,  joined  by  the  earl's 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  211 

brothers,  Sir  John  and  Sir  James  FitzGerald  of 
Desmond,  and  by  some  200  of  the  O'Flahertys, 
who  came  from  Galway  in  their  galleys.  Eight 
days  after  landing,  their  vessels  were  captured 
by  English  crusiers,  the  O'Flahertys  returned 
home,  and  to  avoid  starvation  the  Spaniards  left 
their  fort  and  marched  inland  under  the  three 
Desmonds. 

On  August  17,  they  separated  into  small 
parties.  Sir  John  retired  to  the  fastness  of  Lyna- 
more;  Sir  James  to  that  of  Glenflesk;  while  Fitz- 
Maurice,  accompanied  by  a  few  horsemen  and 
kerns,  proceeded  towards  Tipperary,  to  rally  the 
disaffected  in  Connaught  and  the  North.  In  the 
district  of  Clanwilliam  their  horses  gave  out,  and 
they  seized  some  from  the  plough.  These  horses 
belonged  to  William  Burke,  of  Castleconnell, 
whose  sons,  Theobald  and  Ulick,  pursued  the 
party,  and  came  up  with  them  a  few  miles  east  of 
Limerick,  near  the  present  Barrington's  bridge, 
August  18,  1579.  FitzMaurice  remonstrated  with 
his  assailants,  but  was  fired  at  and  mortally 
wounded.  Even  after  this  he  rushed  into  the 
thick  of  the  melee  that  ensued,  with  one  blow 
cleft  the  head  of  Theobald  Burke,  and  with  an- 
other that  of  his  brother.  FitzMaurice  expired 
in  a  few  hours,  the  rites  of  religion  being  admin- 
istered to  him  by  Dr.  Allan,  who  was  in  his  com- 
pany. 

FitzMaurice  left  two  sons,  one  of  whom  was 
shortly  afterwards  slain  in  the  Irish  wars,  and 
the  other  is  said  to  have  perished  by  shipwreck 
on  the  Irish  coast  in  one  of  the  vessels  of  the 
Spanish  armada.  His  widow  and  younger  chil- 
dren died  shortly  afterwards  at  the  hands  of  the 
Anglo-Irish  soldiers  who  were  ravaging  Des- 
mond. 


212  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

James  FitzGerald 

James  FitzGerald,  "Sugan  Earl"  of  Des- 
mond, was  a  nephew  of  the  15th  Earl  of  Des- 
mond. In  1598,  exasperated  at  seeing  his  ances- 
tral territories  in  the  hands  of  the  English  set- 
tlers, and  at  the  efforts  made  to  extirpate  Cathol- 
icism, he  joined  Hugh  O'Neill  in  his  war,  and  by 
him  was  created  an  earl.  Hence  "Sugan  Earl" 
("earl  of  straw"),  not  appointed  by  regular 
authority.  He  soon  became  a  distinguished  com- 
mander in  Munster  against  the  Queen.  The  plot 
for  his  capture,  formed  by  Sir  George  Carew, 
may  be  here  summarized.  Dermot  O'Conor  Don, 
a  valiant  man,  had,  with  a  body  of  1,500  kerns 
and  gallowglasses,  entered  his  service.  O'Conor's 
wife  was  a  sister  of  the  16th  Earl  of  Desmond, 
and  with  a  view  to  promote  his  interests,  she  met 
the  advances  of  Carew,  and  his  advocate,  Miler 
Magrath,  Anglican  Archbishop  of  Cashel,  and 
persuaded  O'Conor  to  betray  his  chief  for  the 
sum  of  £1,000. 

Carew  furnished  O'Conor  with  a  forged  let- 
ter as  if  from  the  Sugan  Earl  to  Carew,  offering 
to  betray  O'Conor.  This  letter  was  to  serve  as 
a  pretext  with  his  followers  for  his  treachery. 
Matters  being  arranged,  O'Conor  asked  the 
Sugan  Earl  to  an  interview  at  Connello,  on  the 
borders  of  Limerick,  June  18,  1600.  After  some 
controversy,  O'Conor  produced  the  forged  letter, 
made  the  earl  a  prisoner  in  the  name  of  O'Neill, 
and  carried  him  off  to  his  fortress  of  Castleishin, 
in  the  great  wood  and  fastnesses  of  Connello,  in 
the  present  County  Limerick.  The  ruins  of  the 
castle  still  remain.  The  earl's  followers,  with 
Pierce  Lacy  and  others,  immediately  assembled, 
took  the  castle  June  26,  and  liberated  him. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  213 

At  the  siege  of  Glin  Castle,  by  Carew,  in 
July,  the  earl,  with  3,000  men,  watched  the  pro- 
ceedings from  a  distance  without  being  able  to 
interfere.  Afterwards,  while  on  his  way  to  the 
Castle  of  Aherlow,  he  was  attacked  by  a  strong 
body  of  troops  from  Kilmallock,  and  after  a 
skirmish,  was  defeated  and  driven  to  seek  refuge 
elsewhere.  Even  at  this  low  ebb  in  his  fortunes, 
so  strong  was  his  hold  on  the  affections  of  the 
people,  that  the  plan  of  bringing  over  the 
"Queen's  Earl"  completely  failed  in  its  object. 
The  successes  of  Carew,  however,  left  him  a 
hunted  fugitive  flying  from  forest  to  forest,  on 
the  Galtee  mountains,  and  in  Aherlow  glen — now 
sheltered  by  a  faithful  harper,  Dermond  O'Do- 
gan,  now  escaping  by  changing  clothes  with  a 
follower,  who  allowed  himself  to  be  taken  in  his 
place.  He  was  upheld  through  all  by  the  hopes 
of  Spanish  succor.  Carew  made  two  attempts 
to  have  him  assassinated;  both  of  which  resulted 
in  the  death  of  those  who  had  undertaken  the 
task.  All  efforts  to  suborn  his  immediate  fol- 
lowers proved  unavailing. 

At  length  his  relative,  the  White  Knight, 
agreed  for  the  sum  of  £1,000  to  discover  his 
retreat,  and  betray  him.  He  came  upon  him  con- 
cealed in  a  cave  on  the  Galtees,  May  29,  1601,  and 
affected  his  capture — although  the  earl  appealed 
to  his  honor  as  a  gentleman,  and  to  the  ties  of 
relationship  between  them.  He  was  first  im- 
prisoned in  the  White  Knight's  castle  of  Kil- 
venay,  and  afterwards  removed  in  fetters  to 
Cork.  Carew  was  careful  to  preserve  him  alive, 
lest  the  English  adventurers  might  possibly  be 
balked  of  the  plunder  of  his  estates  by  their 
reverting  to  an  heir,  for  the  confiscation  of  whose 
property  no  legal  pretext  could  be  found.    June 


214  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

22,  he  wrote  an  appeal  to  the  Queen  to  spare  his 
Hfe,  but  nobly  refused  to  have  any  share  in  be- 
traying O'Neill  to  the  government — which,  it 
was  hinted,  would  ensure  his  restoration  to  favor. 

He  was  sent  to  the  Tower  of  London, 
August  13,  1601.  Sir  George  Carew,  in  sending 
him  to  London,  wrote  of  him  as  being  "a  man  the 
most  generally  beloved  by  all  sorts  (as  well  in 
this  town  as  in  the  country),  that  in  my  life  I 
have  ever  known;"  and  calls  him  a  "dull  spirited 
traitor,"  for  not  being  willing  to  entrap  his 
associates.  His  mind  soon  succumbed  under  the 
confinement  of  the  Tower.  His  death  took  place 
about  1608,  and  he  was  interred  in  the  chapel  of 
the  Tower. 

The  Sugan  Earl  is  designated  in  state  docu- 
ments "James  McThomas,"  any  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  Desmond  title  being  avoided.  The 
Desmond  pedigree  states:  "He  ever  proved  him- 
self an  honorable,  truthful,  and  humane  man." 
Cox  says  he  was  one  of  the  handsomest  men  of 
his  time.  Though  thrice  married,  he  left  no 
descendants. 

Maurice  FitzGerald 

Maurice  FitzGerald,  second  Baron  Offaly^ 
grandson  of  Maurice  FitzGerald  (the  famous  an- 
cestor of  the  Earls  of  Desmond  and  Kildare  and 
one  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  Norman  in- 
vaders who  came  to  Ireland  in  the  time  of  King 
Henry  IL),  must  have  been  very  young  at  his 
father's  death,  as  it  was  not  until  1216  that  he 
was  put  in  possession  of  Maynooth  and  the  other 
paternal  estates,  by  a  mandatory  letter  of  King 
Henry  HI.  In  1215  he  introduced  into  Ireland  the 
order  of  the  Franciscans,  and  in  1216  the  Domini- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  215 

cans.  He  was  appointed  Lord-Justice  both  in 
1229  and  1245.  In  1232  he  built  the  Franciscan 
Abbey  of  Youghal.  In  1234,  at  a  conference  on 
the  Curragh  between  Richard,  Earl  Marshal,  the 
Baron  of  Offaly,  and  others,  the  former  was 
treacherously  slain;  whereupon  FitzGerald  pro- 
ceeded to  London,  and  took  an  oath  before 
Henry  III.  that  he  was  innocent  of  all  participa- 
tion in  the  deed. 

In  1234  the  English  King  issued  a  writ  di- 
recting FitzGerald  to  proclaim  free  trade  be- 
tv/een  Ireland  and  England.  In  1236  the  latter 
founded  the  Dominican  Abbey  at  Sligo  as  the 
abode  of  a  community  of  monks  to  say  prayers 
for  the  repose  of  the  soul  of  Earl  Marshal,  and 
the  same  year  he  built  the  Castle  of  Armagh,  and 
in  1242  that  of  Sligo.  In  1235  he  marched  at  the 
head  of  a  large  force  into  Connaught,  and  re- 
duced the  province  to  submission.  In  1245  he 
and  Felim  O'Conor,  of  Connaught,  were  admon- 
ished for  tardiness  in  joining  the  English  King  in 
an  expedition  into  Wales.  After  this,  among 
other  rights,  the  Irish  Barons  claimed  exemption 
from  attending  the  sovereign  beyond  the  realm. 
In  1246  FitzGerald  subdued  Tirconnell,  and  in 
1248  marched  into  Tyrone,  and  forced  O'Neill 
to  give  hostages ;  but  in  1257  he  was  defeated  by 
Godfrey  O'Donnell  at  the  Rosses,  near  Sligo. 
Soon  after  this  he  retired  to  the  Franciscan 
monastery  at  Youghal,  assumed  the  habit  of  the 
order,  and  died  the  same  year.  He  had  married 
a  daughter  of  John  de  Cogan. 

Maurice  FitzGerald 

Maurice  FitzGerald,  third  Baron  Offaly,  suc- 
ceeded his  father  in  1257.     Terrible  feuds  raged 


2i6  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

in  his  time  between  the  Geraldines  and  De 
Burghs.  In  1272  he  was  made  Lord-Justice.  He 
more  than  once  invaded  Thomond,  in  1277,  tak- 
ing prisoner  and  executing  O'Brien  Roe,  prince 
of  that  district;  on  his  return,  with  part  of  his 
forces,  he  was  surrounded  in  a  pass  of  the  Slieve 
Bloom  mountains,  and  his  men  were  reduced  to 
eat  horse  flesh,  and  ultimately  compelled  to  give 
hostages,  and  grant  to  the  Irish  the  Castle  of 
Roscommon.  A  poem  celebrating  the  efforts 
made  to  defend  Ross  against  rival  factions,  by 
walling  it  in  1265,  is  given  by  Crocker  in  his 
"Popular  Songs  of  Ireland."  The  Baron  of  Offaly 
died  at  Ross  in  1277. 

Gerald  FitzGerald 

Sir  Gerald  FitzGerald,  fourth  Baron  Offaly, 
succeeded  his  father  in  1277.  He  completed  the 
Grey  Abbey  at  Kildare,  and  founded  the  Francis- 
can Abbey  at  Clane.  He  carried  on  wars  with 
the  O'Conors.  In  a  battle  with  the  O'Briens  in 
1287,  many  Anglo-Norman  knights  were  slain, 
and  he  received  a  wound  from  which  he  shortly 
afterwards  died  at  Rathmore.  He  was  buried 
at  Kildare.  Maurice  FitzGerald,  fifth  Baron  Of- 
faly succeeded.  He  married  Agnes  de  Valence, 
great  granddaughter  of  Eve  and  Strongbow. 

John  FitzGerald 

John  FitzGerald  was  the  first  Earl  of  Kil- 
dare. On  the  death  of  the  fifth  Baron  Offaly,  who 
left  no  children,  John,  descended  from  the  third 
son  of  the  second  baron,  was  the  only  surviving 
male  descendant  of  the  first  baron.  The  story  of 
an  ape  saving  a  member  of  the  family  from  a 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  217 

burning  castle,  is  told  of  the  first  Earl  of  Kildare, 
as  well  as  of  one  of  the  Desmonds.  When  Swift 
was  writing  Gulliver's  Travels,  he  had  quarrelled 
with  the  then  Earl  of  Kildare,  and  hence  intro- 
duced the  incident  of  Gulliver  being  carried  off 
and  fed  by  the  Brobdingnagian  ape.  Whatever 
may  be  the  truth  of  the  story,  the  ape  was 
adopted  as  the  FitzGerald  crest. 

In  1293,  in  consequence  of  a  dispute  between 
him  and  William  de  Vesci,  Lord  of  Kildare,  they 
were  both  summoned  to  appear  before  King  Ed- 
ward I.  After  mutual  recrimination,  FitzGerald 
challenged  De  Vesci  to  single  combat.  When  the 
day  came,  De  Vesci  fled  to  France,  and  the  King 
declared  FitzGerald  innocent  and  added:  "Albeit 
Albert  de  Vesci  conveyed  his  person  into  France, 
yet  he  left  his  lands  behind  him  in  Ireland,"  and 
he  granted  them  to  FitzGerald.  Having  consis- 
tently opposed  the  "Irish  enemy,"  assisted  on 
three  occasions  against  the  Scotch,  and  in  1315 
opposed  Edward  Bruce  at  Ardscull,  in  Kildare, 
he  was,  May  14,  1316,  created  Earl  of  Kildare,  and 
granted  the  castle  and  town  of  that  name.  He 
died  at  Maynooth  or  at  Laraghbryan,  Septem- 
ber 10,  1316,  and  was  buried  in  the  Grey  Abbey, 
at  Kildare. 

Thomas  FitzGerald 

Thomas  FitzGerald,  second  Earl  of  Kildare, 
succeeded  his  father  in  1316.  In  1317  he  took  the 
field  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  30,000  men  against 
Edward  Bruce,  who  was  slain  the  following  year 
near  Dundalk.  FitzGerald  held  the  office  of  Lord- 
Justice  more  than  once.  During  his  lifetime  Ire- 
land continued  to  be  torn  by  contending  factions. 
The  earl  introduced  into  his  territories  the  Irish 


2i8  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

exaction  of  '"bonaght,"  or  "coigne  and  livery" — 
money  and  food  for  man  and  horse  without  pay- 
ment, as  did  the  Earls  of  Ormond  and  Desmond 
into  their  palatinates.  He  died  at  Maynooth, 
April  9,  1328,  and  was  buried  in  the  Grey  Abbey 
at  Kildare.  Richard,  third  Earl  of  Kildare,  born 
in  1317,  died  at  Rathangan,  in  1329,  and  was 
buried  beside  his  father. 

Maurice  FitzGerald 

Maurice  FitzGerald,  fourth  Earl  of  Kildare, 
brother  of  preceding.  In  1345  he  was  imprisoned 
in  Dublin  Castle  by  the  English  King's  order,  but 
was  released  the  next  year  on  the  recognizances 
of  twenty-four  lords  and  gentlemen.  In  1347  he 
attended  King  Edward  III.  to  Calais  with  thirty 
men-at-arms  and  forty  hobellers,  and  for  his 
bravery  was  knighted  by  the  King.  In  1378  we 
find  him  granted  £10  from  the  Exchequer  as 
compensation  for  his  loss  of  six  men,  four  coats 
of  mail,  and  other  armour,  "in  a  certain  great 
hosting."  He  died  August  25,  1390,  and  was 
buried  in  Christ  Church,  Dublin. 

Gerald  FitzGerald 

Gerald  FitzGerald,  fifth  Earl  of  Kildare,  suc- 
ceeded his  father.  In  1398  he  was  taken  prisoner 
by  Calvagh  O'Conor  Faly,  and  was  not  released 
until  he  had  paid  heavy  ransom.  In  1407  he  de- 
feated O'Carrol  at  Kilkenny,  slaying  him  and 
800  of  his  men.  In  1408  he  was  sent  prisoner  to 
Dublin  Castle,  and  all  his  goods  plundered  by  the 
servants  of  the  Lord-Lieutenant,  for  disrespect  to 
the  latter's  authority.  He  was  afterwards  liber- 
ated on  paying  a  fine  of  300  marks.    He  died  in 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  219 

1410,  and  was  buried  in  the  Grey  Abbey  at  Kil- 
dare.  He  acted  as  Lord-Deputy  in  1405.  His 
son  John,  sixth  Earl  of  Kildare,  enlarged  the 
Castles  of  Maynooth  and  Kilkea.  He  died  in 
1427. 

Thomas  FitzGerald 

Thomas  FitzGerald,  seventh  Earl  of  Kildare, 
succeeded  his  father  in  1427.  He  more  than  once 
acted  as  Lord-Deputy  to  the  Duke  of  York,  who 
as  far  as  possible  divided  his  favors  between  the 
FitzGeralds  and  the  Butlers.  When  the  Duke 
fell  at  the  battle  of  Wakefield,  several  members 
of  both  these  powerful  families  were  slain  under 
his  banners.  As  deputy  the  Earl  of  Kildare  held 
several  parliaments,  at  Naas,  Drogheda,  and  else- 
where; he  also  acted  as  Lord-Chancellor.  In  1467 
he  and  his  brother-in-law,  the  Earl  of  Desmond, 
were  attainted  "for  alliance,  fosterage,  and  alter- 
age  with  the  King's  Irish  enemies."  Desmond 
was  beheaded,  but  Kildare  pleaded  his  own  cause 
before  the  King,  had  the  attainder  reversed,  and 
the  same  year  he  was  appointed  Lord-Justice.  He 
established  the  "Brothers  of  St.  George,"  the  only 
standing  army  of  the  Pale,  consisting  of  120 
mounted  archers,  40  horsemen,  and  40  pages ;  the 
archers  received  sixpence  a  day,  the  horsemen 
fivepence.  The  object  of  the  fraternity  was  to  re- 
sist the  "Irish  enemies  and  English  rebels."  The 
earl  died  March  25,  1477,  and  was  buried  beside 
his  father. 

Gerald  FitzGerald 

Gerald  FitzGerald,  eighth  Earl  of  Kildare, 
called  the  "Great  Earl,"  succeeded  his  father  in 
1477.     He  was  appointed   Lord-Deputy  to  the 


220  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

young  Duke  of  York;  but  was  shortly  dismissed, 
and  Lord  Grey  appointed  in  his  place,  on  the  plea 
that  an  Englishman  was  more  suited  to  the  office. 
This  roused  the  indignation  of  the  lords  of  the 
Pale,  who,  declaring  that  Lord  Grey's  patent  was 
informal,  opened  a  parliament  of  their  own,  un- 
der the  presidency  of  Kildare.  On  appeal.  King 
Edward  IV.,  believing  it  his  best  policy  to  govern 
Ireland  through  the  Geraldine  faction,  recalled 
Lord  Grey  and  appointed  the  earl.  Kildare  dis- 
played great  vigor  in  the  government,  and  con- 
tinued in  his  post  undisturbed  by  the  accession 
of  King  Richard  III.  On  the  accession  of  King 
Henry  VII.  it  was  a  matter  of  surprise  that  the 
King  for  a  time  permitted  the  earl,  a  known 
Yorkist,  to  continue  in  office. 

The  earl  was  summoned  to  London,  but 
made  many  excuses  for  non-compliance,  with 
which  Henry  had  to  content  himself  at  the  time. 
Kildare's  adhesion  to  the  cause  of  the  impostor, 
Simnel,  afforded  clear  evidence  of  his  insincerity, 
and  Henry,  still  unable  to  dispense  with  his  ser- 
vices, sent  over  Sir  Richard  Edgecomb  to  exact 
the  most  binding  oaths  possible  from  him  and  the 
other  men  of  mark  who  had  espoused  Simnel's 
cause  and  invaded  England.  EitzGerald  con- 
tinued to  exhibit  ability  in  the  government. 
Lodge  mentions  that  he  received  a  present  from 
Germany  of  six  muskets,  then  a  great  novelty, 
with  which  he  armed  his  guard  at  Thomascourt. 
After  some  time  Kildare  found  it  necessary  to  go 
over  to  London  to  answer  complaints  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Armagh.  The  decision  was  to  his 
favor,  and  he  and  his  friends  were  entertained  at 
a  banquet,  where  it  is  said  they  were  deliberately 
humiliated,  by  Simnel  (whom  they  had  once 
crowned),  being  set  to  attend  on  them. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  221 

When  the  adventurer  Warbeck  appeared  in 
Ireland,  King  Henry  prudently  displaced  the 
earl,  and  for  a  time  the  Butlers,  of  Ormond,  re- 
gained their  supremacy.  Both  Kildare  and  Or- 
mond joined  Lord-Deputy  Poynings  in  a  raid  on 
the  O'Hanlon's  territory  in  Ulster.  Eventually 
the  enemies  of  Kildare  triumphed,  and  he  was 
thrown  into  the  Tower  of  London,  where  he  re- 
mained two  years.  During  his  imprisonment, 
November  22,  1494,  his  countess,  Alison,  died  of 
grief,  and  was  buried  at  Kilcullen.  When  brought 
to  trial  in  1496,  and  asked  whether  he  was  pro- 
vided with  counsel,  Kildare  replied:  "Yea,  the 
ablest  in  the  realm;  your  Highness  (the  King)  I 
take  for  my  counsel  against  these  false  knaves." 
Accused  by  the  Archbishop  of  Cashel  of  burning 
down  his  cathedral,  he  answered:  "I  would  not 
have  done  it  if  I  had  not  been  told  that  my  Lord 
Archbishop  was  inside."  This  frankness  de- 
lighted the  King,  and  we  are  told  that  when  some 
one  exclaimed,  "All  Ireland  cannot  govern  this 
earl,"  Henry  VII.  rejoined,  "Then  let  this  earl 
govern  all  Ireland." 

He  had  been  sent  to  England  almost  a  con- 
victed traitor,  and  returned  Lord-Deputy.  Soon 
afterwards  he  showed  his  zeal  by  expeditions 
against  the  O'Briens  in  Thomond  and  the 
O'Neills  in  the  north.  In  1499  he  entered  Con- 
naught  and  established  castles  at  Athleague, 
Roscommon,  Tulsk,  and  Castlerea.  Many  use- 
ful enactments  were  passed  at  a  parliament  held 
by  him  at  Castledermot  in  1499.  Next  year  he 
marched  against  malcontents  in  the  North,  and 
also  against  Cork,  the  mayor  of  which  city  he 
hanged.  Some  years  later  a  powerful  confederacy 
under  Lord  Clanricard  was  formed  in  Connaught, 
and  a  large  army  assembled.     Kildare  marched 


222  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

against  them,  and  August  19,  1504,  a  battle  was 
fought  at  Knocktuagh  ("Hill  of  Axes"),  now 
Knockdoe,  seven  miles  from  Galway. 

Clanricard  was  routed  with  a  stated  loss  of 
4,000  to  9,000  men,  and  Galway  and  Athenry  were 
taken.  O'Brien  fell,  and  two  sons  and  a  daughter 
of  Clanricard  were  taken  prisoners.  The  battle 
is  thus  described  by  the  Four  Masters:  "Far 
away  the  troops  were  heard,  the  violent  onset  of 
the  martial  chiefs,  the  vehement  efforts  of  the 
champions,  the  charge  of  the  royal  heroes,  the 
noise  of  the  lords,  the  clamour  of  the  troops  when 
endangered,  the  shouts  and  exultations  of  the 
youths,  the  sound  made  by  the  falling  of  brave 
men,  and  the  triumphing  of  nobles  over  plebe- 
ians." Kildare's  power  was  firmly  established  by 
this  victory,  and  he  was  created  a  Knight  of  the 
Garter  by  the  King. 

In  1513,  in  an  expedition  against  the  O'Car- 
rolls,  he  was  wounded  by  the  enemy  while  water- 
ing his  horse  in  the  river  Greese  at  Kilkea.  He 
was  conveyed  by  slow  stages  to  Kildare,  where, 
after  lingering  a  few  days,  he  died,  September  3, 
and  was  buried  in  his  chapel  of  St.  Mary  in 
Christ  Church.  He  it  was  that  first  introduced 
artillery  into  Ireland.  The  door  was  until  lately 
shown  in  St.  Patrick's  through  a  hole  in  which 
the  Earl  of  Ormond  and  he  shook  hands  after  an 
encounter  between  their  followers  in  the  church. 
Some  of  the  coins  issued  in  Ireland  in  his  time 
bear  his  arms. 

He  was  thrice  married.  Holinshed  says: 
"He  was  a  mighty  man  of  stature,  full  of  honor 
and  courage,  who  had  been  Lord-Deputy  and 
Lord-Justice  of  Ireland  three  and  thirty  years. 
Kildare  was  in  government  mild,  to  his  enemies 
stern.    He  was  open  and  plain,  hardly  able  to  rule 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  223 

himself,  when  he  was  moved;  in  anger  not  so 
sharp  as  short,  being  easily  displeased  and  sooner 
appeased.  .  .  .  Notwithstanding  his  simplic- 
ity in  peace,  he  was  of  that  valor  and  policy  in 
war,  as  his  name  bred  a  greater  terror  to  the 
Irish  than  other  men's  armies." 

Gerald  FitzGerald 

Gerald  FitzGerald,  ninth  Earl  of  Kildare,  son 
of  the  preceding,  was  born  in  1487.  He  is  said 
to  have  been  one  of  the  handsomest  men  of  his 
time.  The  Irish  annalists  call  him  "Geroit  Oge," 
or  "Garrett  MacAlison,"  after  his  mother.  In 
1496  he  was  detained  by  King  Henry  VII.  at  his 
court  as  a  hostage  for  his  father's  fidelity.  In 
1503,  when  but  sixteen,  he  married  Elizabeth 
Zouche,  and  was  soon  after  permitted  to  return 
to  Ireland.  Next  year  he  was  appointed  Lord 
High  Treasurer. 

In  August,  1504,  he  commanded  the  reserve 
at  the  battle  of  Knockdoe,  where  his  rashness 
and  impetuosity  were  the  cause  of  some  loss.  On 
the  death  of  his  father  in  1513  he  succeeded  to 
the  title  and  was  by  the  council  chosen  Lord- 
Justice.  Henry  VIII.  soon  afterwards  appointed 
him  Lord-Deputy.  Some  of  the  Irish  chiefs  at 
the  end  of  1513,  having  ravaged  parts  of  the  Pale, 
the  earl,  early  in  the  following  year,  defeated 
O'More  and  his  followers  in  Leix,  and  ther(^, 
marching  North,  took  the  Castle  of  Cavan,  killed 
Chief  O'Reilly,  drove  his  followers  into  the  bogs, 
and  returned  to  Dublin  laden  with  booty.  This 
energetic  action  was  so  highly  approved  by  the 
King  that  he  granted  the  earl  the  customs  of  the 
ports  in  County  Down, — rights  repurchased  by 
the  Crown  from  the  seventeenth  earl  in  1662. 


224  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

In  1516  the  earl  invaded  Imayle,  and  sent 
the  head  of  Shane  O'Toole  as  a  present  to  the 
Mayor  of  Dubhn.  He  then  marched  into  Ely 
O'CarroU,  in  conjunction  with  his  brother-in- 
law,  the  Earl  of  Ormond,  and  James,  son  of  the 
Earl  of  Desmond.  They  captured  and  razed  the 
Castle  of  Lemyvannan,  took  Clonmel,  and  in 
December  he  returned  to  Dublin  **laden  with 
booty,  hostages  and  honor."  In  March,  1517, 
he  called  a  parliament  in  Dublin,  and  then  in- 
vaded Ulster,  stormed  the  Castle  of  Dundrum, 
marched  into  Tyrone,  and  took  Dungannon,  "and 
so  reduced  Ireland  to  a  quiet  condition."  Octo- 
ber 6  of  the  same  year  his  Countess  died  at  Lucan 
and  was  buried  at  Kilcullen. 

Next  year,  1518,  his  enemies  having  accused 
him  of  maladministration,  he  appointed  a  deputy 
and  sailed  for  England.  He  was  removed  from 
the  government,  and  the  Earl  of  Surrey  ap- 
pointed in  his  stead.  He  appears  to  have  accom- 
panied the  King  to  France  in  June,  1520,  and  was 
present  at  "the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold,"  where 
he  was  distinguished  by  his  bearing  and  retinue. 
On  this  occasion  he  met  the  King's  first  cousin, 
Lady  Elizabeth  Grey,  whom  he  married  a  few 
months  afterwards,  and  thereby  gained  consid- 
erable influence  at  court. 

Kildare  was  permitted  to  return  to  Ireland 
in  January,  1523.  About  this  time  he  founded 
the  College  of  Maynooth,  which  flourished  until 
suppressed  in  1538.  He  signalized  his  return  to 
Ireland  by  an  expedition  into  Leix  in  company 
with  the  Mayor  of  Dublin.  Having  burnt  several 
villages,  they  were  caught  in  an  ambuscade,  and 
after  considerable  loss  retreated  with  some  diffi- 
culty to  Dublin.  In  consequence  of  disputes  and 
misunderstandings  between  the  Earl  of  Kildare 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  225 

and  the  Earl  of  Ormond,  who  was  now  Lord- 
Deputy,  they  appealed  to  the  King,  accusing  each 
other  of  malpractices  and  treasons.  Arbitrators 
were  appointed,  who  ordered  that  both  the  earls 
should  abstain  from  making  war  without  the 
King's  assent;  that  they  should  cease  levying 
"coigne  and  livery";  that  the  two  earls  should 
persuade  their  kinsmen  to  submit  to  the  laws, 
and  that  they  should  be  bound  by  a  bond  of 
1,000  marks  each  to  keep  the  peace  for  one  year. 

Before  long,  however,  their  mutual  hatreds 
blazed  forth  again  in  consequence  of  the  death 
of  James  Talbot,  one  of  Ormond's  followers,  by 
the  retainers  of  Kildare.  Again  the  earls  ap- 
pealed to  the  King,  and  again  commissioners 
were  sent  over,  who  conducted  an  inquiry  at 
Christ  Church,  Dublin,  in  June,  1524.  Their  de- 
cision was  in  the  main  in  favor  of  Kildare,  and 
an  indenture  was  drawn  up,  by  which  the  earls 
agreed  to  forgive  each  other,  to  be  friends,  and 
to  make  common  cause  for  the  future.  Soon 
afterwards,  Kildare  was  reappointed  Lord-Dep- 
uty. He  took  the  oaths  at  Thomascourt,  his 
nephew.  Con  B.  O'Neill,  carrying  the  sword  of 
state  before  him. 

He  then  entered  into  an  indenture  with  the 
King  not  to  grant  pardons  without  the  consent 
of  the  council,  to  cause  the  Irish  in  his  territories 
to  wear  English  dress,  to  shave  their  upper 
beards,  and  not  to  levy  "coigne  and  livery"  ex- 
cept when  on  the  King's  business,  and  then  only 
to  a  specified  amount. 

Next  year,  1525,  Kildare  and  Ormond  were 
again  at  daggers  drawn.  They  appealed  to  the 
King  concerning  a  disputed  sum  of  £800  in  ac- 
count between  them,  accusing  each  other  as 
before,  of  many  enormities  and  malfeasances. 


226  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

About  the  same  time  Kildare,  in  accordance  with 
a  royal  mandate,  assembled  a  large  force,  and 
marched  into  Munster  to  arrest  the  Earl  of  Des- 
mond, making  a  show  of  great  eagerness,  but 
sending  private  instructions  to  the  earl  how  to 
keep  out  of  the  way.  He  next  turned  North,  and 
bv  diplomacy  and  force  pacified  the  O'Neills  and 
d'Donnells. 

In  1526  he  was  ordered  to  England  to  meet 
the  charges  of  the  Earl  of  Ormond,  of  having 
secretly  assisted  the  Desmonds,  and  having  slain 
many  good  subjects  because  they  were  adherents 
of  the  Butlers.  On  arrival  in  London,  he  was  for 
a  time  committed  to  the  Tower,  and  was  retained 
in  England  for  four  years,  and  when  he  was 
brought  before  the  council  a  violent  altercation 
ensued  between  him  and  Cardinal  Wolsey,  which 
is  reported  at  full  length  by  Holinshed. 

Wolsey  is  said  to  have  obtained  an  order  for 
his  immediate  execution,  which  his  well-wisher, 
the  Constable  of  the  Tower,  frustrated  by  exer- 
cising a  right  (still  inherent  in  the  ofhce)  of  de- 
manding a  personal  interview  with  the  King. 
Liberated  on  bail  for  a  time,  Kildare  was  recom- 
mitted on  the  discovery  of  his  intriguing  with 
the  Irish  princes  to  induce  them  to  commit  as- 
saults on  the  Pale,  so  as  to  make  his  return  ap- 
pear necessary. 

Liberated  again,  he  was  one  of  the  peers 
who  in  1530  signed  the  letter  to  the  Pope  relative 
to  the  divorce  of  Queen  Catharine.  The  same 
year,  to  the  joy  of  his  retainers,  he  was  permitted 
"to  return  to  Ireland  with  Skeffington,  the  new 
Lord-Deputy.  On  his  arrival  he  marched  against 
the  O'Tooles  to  punish  them  for  ravages  on  his 
tenantry  in  his  absence,  and  then  accompanied 
the  Deputy  against  the  O'Donnells.    The  friend- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  227 

ship  of  the  Deputy  and  earl  did  not  last  long,  and 
they  sent  letters  and  messages  to  the  King  ac- 
cusing each  other.  The  Deputy,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected was  supported  by  the  Butlers.  Neverthe- 
less, the  earl  appears  to  have  cleared  himself,  and 
to  have  been  appointed  to  succeed  Skeffington  as 
Deputy  to  the  Duke  of  Richmond. 

Landing  at  Dublin  in  this  capacity,  in 
August  1532,  Kildare  was  received  with  great 
acclamations.  But  lengthened  peace  appeared 
impossible.  He  insulted  the  late  Deputy,  wasted 
the  territories  of  the  Butlers,  was  accused  of 
forming  alliances  with  the  native  chiefs,  and  in 
1533  the  council  reported  to  the  King  that  such 
was  the  animosity  between  the  Earls  of  Kildare 
and  Ormond  that  peace  was  out  of  the  question 
as  long  as  either  of  them  was  Deputy.  At  this 
period,  Kildare  had  partially  lost  the  use  of  his 
limbs  and  his  speech,  in  consequence  of  a  gun- 
shot wound  received  in  an  attack  upon  the 
O'Carrolls  at  Birr.  He  was  again  summoned  to 
court,  and  in  February,  1534,  at  a  council  at 
Drogheda,  in  an  affecting  speech,  he  nominated 
his  son  Thomas,  Lord  Offaly,  as  Vice-Deputy, 
and  then,  embracing  him  and  the  lords  of  the 
council,  set  sail  for  England. 

On  his  arrival  in  London  he  was  arraigned 
on  several  charges,  and  was  committed  to  the 
Tower,  where  he  died  of  grief,  December  12, 
1534,  on  hearing  of  his  son's  insurrection,  and 
perusing  the  excommunication  launched  against 
him.  He  was  buried  in  St.  Peter's  Church  in  the 
Tower.  He  is  described  as  valiant  and  well- 
spoken,  "nothing  inferior  to  his  father  in  mar- 
shal prowess,"  hospitable  and  religious,  beloved 
by  his  friends  and  dependants.  He  strengthened 
and  kept  in  repair  several  castles, — Rathangan, 


228  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Rheban,  Kildare,  Woodstock,  Athy,  Kilkea,  Cas- 
tledermot,  and  Carlow.  His  likeness,  painted  by- 
Holbein  in  1530,  is  still  preserved  at  Carton,  while 
a  book  containing  his  rent-roll,  and  lists  of  his 
horses,  plate,  and  furniture,  is  in  the  British 
Museum. 

From  it  we  learn  that  his  library  consisted 
of  thirty-one  Latin,  thirty-seven  French,  twenty- 
two  English,  and  eighteen  Irish  books.  Lord 
Thomas,  called  "Silken  Thomas,"  born  in  Eng- 
land in  1613,  was  the  tenth  Earl  of  Kildare.  He 
fought  the  English  forces  successfully  for  a  long 
time,  but  eventually  surrendered  on  promise  of 
pardon,  but  was,  with  his  five  uncles,  executed  at 
Tyburn  in  1537. 

Gerald  FitzGerald 

Gerald  FitzGerald,  eleventh  Earl  of  Kildare, 
half-brother  of  the  tenth  earl,  was  born  February 
25,  1525,  and  was  consequently  but  ten  years  old 
at  the  time  of  Lord  Thomas'  surrender.  He  was 
then  lying  ill  of  the  smallpox  at  Donore,  in  Kil- 
dare, and,  being  the  only  hope  of  the  family,  he 
was  carefully  conveyed  in  a  large  basket,  by 
Thomas  Leverous,  a  priest  and  foster-brother  of 
his  father,  into  Offaly,  to  his  sister.  Lady  Mary 
O'Conor,  and,  when  recovered,  was  removed 
into  Thomond,  to  the  care  of  his  cousin,  James 
Delahide. 

The  Irish  Council  spared  no  efforts  to  induce 
the  O'Briens  to  surrender  him;  but,  after  using 
all  their  diplomacy,  they  had  to  confess  to  the 
Lord  Chamberlain,  Thomas  Cromwell:  "And  as 
to  O'Brien,  notwithstanding  his  letters  and  prom- 
ises of  subjection  and  obedience  to  the  King's 
Highness,  we  could  neither  get  him  to  conde- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  2^9 

scend  to  any  conformity  according  the  same, 
ney  yet  to  deliver  the  Earl  of  Kildare's  plate  and 
goods."  After  six  months'  rest  in  Thomond, 
Delahide  and  Leverous  conveyed  Gerald  to  his 
aunt,  Lady  Eleanor  MacCarthy,  at  Kilbriton,  in 
Cork.  Her  son,  the  MacCarthy  Reagh,  v^as  trib- 
utary to  the  Earl  of  Desmond,  and  the  Govern- 
ment endeavored  to  induce  the  earl  to  compel  the 
lad's  surrender. 

Royal  Commissioners  were  appointed,  and  a 
"most  gracious  pardon"  offered  to  the  lad  himself 
if  he  would  but  come  in.  Remembering  the  fate 
of  Lord  Thomas  and  his  uncles,  and  the  known 
anxiety  of  the  King  for  the  extinction  of  the 
Geraldines,  he  wisely  declined  putting  himself 
into  the  English  power.  It  appeared  desirable 
that  he  should  seek  some  safer  asylum,  and  ac- 
cordingly his  aunt.  Lady  Eleanor,  urged  by 
O'Neill  and  Desmond,  consented  to  a  long-talked- 
of  marriage  with  Manus  O'Donnell  of  Tircon- 
nell,  so  as  to  be  enabled  to  offer  him  an  asylum 
in  the  North.  The  marriage  took  place,  and  all 
the  plottings  and  plans  of  the  Government  for 
securing  Gerald's  person  were  completely  frus- 
trated. 

In  September,  1539,  Cromwell  was  informed 
by  an  Irish  correspondent:  "I  assure  your  Lord- 
ship that  this  English  Pale,  except  the  towns, 
and  a  very  few  of  the  possessioners,  are  too  affec- 
tionate to  the  Geraldines,  that  for  kindred  mar- 
riage, fostering,  and  adhering  as  followers,  they 
desire  more  to  see  a  Geraldine  reign  and  triumph 
than  to  see  God  come  among  them;  and  if  they 
might  see  this  young  Gerald's  banner  displayed, 
if  they  should  lose  half  their  substance,  they 
would  rejoice  more  at  the  same,  than  otherwise 
to  gain  great  goods."     Later  on,  in  the  begin- 


230  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

ning  of  1540,  the  Council  informed  the  King  that 
"the  detestable  traitors,  young  Gerald,  O'Neill, 
O'Donnell,  the  pretended  Earl  of  Desmond, 
O'Brien,  O'Connor,  and  O'Mulmoy,  continued  to 
destroy  the  property  of  his  Majesty's  subjects, 
to  subdue  the  whole  land  to  the  supremacy  of 
the  Pope,  and  to  elevate  the  Geraldines." 

In  March,  1540,  Lady  Eleanor  O'Donnell, 
suspecting  that  her  husband  harbored  intentions 
of  surrendering  the  young  earl,  determined  to 
send  him  away.  "She  engaged  a  merchant  ves- 
sel of  St.  Malo,  which  happened  to  be  in  Donegal 
Bay,  to  convey  a  small  party  to  the  coast  of  Brit- 
tany. She  then  gave  140  gold  Portugueses  to 
Gerald,  and  he  departed  with  his  tutor  Leverous, 
and  Robert  Walsh,  a  faithful  servant  of  his 
father.  He  is  described  as  having  been  dressed 
in  a  saffron-colored  shirt  like  one  of  the  natives. 
The  vessel  immediately  set  sail,  and  arrived 
safely  at  St.  Malo,  where  Gerald  was  hospitably 
received  by  the  Governor,  Gerald  once  in  safety, 
Lady  Eleanor  reproached  O'Donnell  for  his  in- 
tended treachery,  told  him  no  further  induce- 
ment existed  for  her  tolerating  his  company, 
"and  trussing  up  bag  and  baggage,  returned  to 
her  country." 

After  Gerald's  departure,  the  Irish  league 
fell  to  pieces  and  O'Donnell,  O'Neill,  Desmond, 
and  the  other  Irish  princes  submitted,  and  were 
ultimately  pardoned  and  received  into  royal 
favor.  The  attention  young  Gerald  met  with  on 
the  Continent,  and  the  reports  sent  abroad  that 
he  was  the  rightful  heir  to  the  Irish  Crown,  cre- 
ated much  manoeuvering  and  correspondence  at 
the  court  of  King  Henry  VIII.  Francis  I.,  King 
of  France,  placed  him  with  the  young  Dauphin 
for  a  time;  he  was  next  sent  privately  into  Flan- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  231 

ders,  then  part  of  the  dominions  of  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.,  the  Enghsh  ambassador  keeping  a 
careful  watch  on  his  movements.  From  Charles 
V.  he  was  passed  on  to  Cardinal  Pole  at  Rome, 
who  settled  upon  him  an  annuity  of  300  crowns, 
treated  him  with  affection,  and  had  him  educated 
and  trained  as  a  prince  of  high  expectations. 

In  1544,  when  his  education  had  been  com- 
pleted, he  visited  the  Knights  of  Malta  (to  which 
body  two  of  his  uncles  had  belonged),  and  gath^ 
ered  laurels  in  an  expedition  to  the  coast  of 
Africa.  In  1545  he  was  appointed  master  of  the 
horse  to  Cosmo  de  Medici,  with  a  salary  of  300 
ducats  per  annum,  besides  other  handsome  allow- 
ances. In  June  of  the  same  year  Lady  Eleanor 
O'Donnell  was  pardoned  for  her  part  in  his  es- 
cape. After  the  death  of  Henry  VIII.,  in  1547, 
Gerald  visited  London,  together  with  some  for- 
eign ambassadors,  accompanied  by  his  old  friend, 
Thomas  Leverous.  At  a  masque  given  by  Ed- 
ward YL,  he  fell  in  love  with  Mabel  Brown,  a 
lady  of  the  court,  whom  he  shortly  afterwards 
married- 
He  was  received  into  favor  and  restored  to 
his  Irish  estates  by  patent  of  April  25,  1552, 
His  faithful  adherent,  Leverous,  was  appointed 
Bishop  of  Kildare  and  Dean  of  St.  Patrick's, 
preferments  of  which  he  was  deprived  in  1559, 
on  refusing  to  adopt  the  reformed  tenets.  He 
afterwards  kept  a  school  at  Adare,  and  died  about 
1577,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age,  at  Naas, 
where  he  was  buried  in  the  parish  church  of  St. 
David.  Reinstated  in  all  his  father's  possessions 
and  titles,  the  young  earl  returned  to  Ireland  in 
November,  1554,  and  was  received  with  an  out- 
burst of  delight  by  the  dependents  of  the  Ger- 
aldines.     If  we  except  one  recall  to  London  in 


232  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

1560,  in  consequence  of  reported  machinations 
between  him  and  the  Earl  of  Desmond,  he  ap- 
pears to  have  been  regarded  as  a  loyal  and 
trusted  servant  of  the  Crown,  and  as  such  often 
accompanied  the  Deputy  in  his  expeditions 
against  seditious  Irish  chieftains. 

He  is  praised  by  some  contemporary  writers 
for  having  "presented  the  Government  many 
times  with  a  number  of  principal  outlaws'  heads." 
In  1562  he  accompanied  Shane  O'Neill  on  his 
visit  to  Queen  Elizabeth.  August  25,  1580,  he 
formed  one  of  the  party  that  accompanied  the 
Lord-Deputy,  Lord  Grey,  and  was  defeated  in 
Glenmalure  by  the  O'Byrnes.  Later  on,  how- 
ever, the  Government  had  occasion  to  suspect  his 
loyalty,  and  he  and  his  family  were  for  some  time 
confined  successively  in  Dublin  Castle  and  the 
Tower  of  London. 

He  was  eventually  liberated,  and  died  in 
London,  November  16,  1585;  his  remains  were 
brought  over  and  interred  at  Kildare.  His  wife 
survived  him  until  August  25,  1610.  "He  was 
of  low  stature  and  slender  figure,  and  was  re- 
puted to  have  been  the  best  horseman  of  his  day. 
With  many  good  qualities, — honorable,  cour- 
teous, valiant,  afi^able,  and  having  all  the  qualifi- 
cations belonging  to  a  gentleman — he  was  pas- 
sionate and  covetous.  He  conformed  to  the  Prot- 
estant religion  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth." 

Henry  Fitz  Gerald 

Henry  FitzGerald,  twelfth  Earl  of  Kildare, 
second  son  of  preceding,  was  born  in  1562.  He 
was  called  "Henry  na  Tuagh" — "of  the  battle- 
axes."  Espousing  the  Anglo-Irish  side  in  the 
wars  with  Hugh  O'Neill,  he  was  wounded  in 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  233 

a  skirmish  on  the  Blackwater,  in  July,  1597. 
Brought  to  Drogheda,  he  died  there  September 
30,  from  the  effects  of  the  wound  and  through 
grief  for  the  death  of  his  two  foster-brothers, 
O'Conors,  who  had  been  slain  by  his  side.  He 
was  buried  in  St.  Bridget's  Cathedral,  Kildare. 
His  wife  was  Lady  Frances  Howard,  daughter 
of  the  Earl  of  Nottingham.  His  brother  Will- 
iam, thirteenth  Earl  of  Kildare,  died  at  sea  in 
1599. 

Gerald  FitzGerald 

Gerald  FitzGerald,  fourteenth  Earl  of  Kil- 
dare, grandson  of  the  ninth  earl,  succeeded  on 
the  death  of  his  cousin  in  1599.  He  was  well 
affected  towards  the  Crown,  and  occupied  several 
positions  of  trust.  He  died  February  11,  1612, 
and  his  obsequies  were  solemnized  at  Maynooth, 
but  his  remains  were  not  buried  at  Kildare 
until  November.  He  married  Elizabeth  Nugent, 
daughter  of  Lord  Delvin.  His  son  Gerald,  fif- 
teenth Earl  of  Kildare,  born  shortly  before  his 
father's  death,  died  at  the  age  of  nine. 

George  FitzGerald 

George  FitzGerald,  sixteenth  Earl  of  Kil- 
dare, great-grandson  of  the  ninth  earl,  born  Janu- 
ary, 1612,  was  known  as  the  "Fairy  Earl,"  appar- 
ently for  no  other  reason  that  that  his  portrait, 
still  extant,  was  painted  on  a  small  scale.  Given 
in  charge  to  the  Earl  of  Cork,  he,  when  but 
eighteen,  married  the  earl's  daughter.  Lady  Joan 
Boyle.  The  Castle  of  Maynooth,  which  had 
fallen  into  decay  on  the  death  of  the  fourteenth 
Earl  of  Kildare,  was  restored  and  improved  for 
him  bv  his  euardian. 


234  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

In  1638  he  was  committed  to  prison  for  re- 
fusing to  submit  the  title-deeds  of  his  estates  to 
the  Earl  of  vStrafford.  He  took  the  Anglo-Irish 
side  in  the  war  of  1641-52,  and  suffered  much  in 
estate,  Maynooth  Castle  being  pillaged  and  dis- 
mantled by  the  Confederates.  After  Cromwell's 
landing  in  1649,  his  regiment  was  with  many 
others  disbanded.  He  died  in  1660,  and  was 
buried  at  Kildare.  Wentworth  FitzGerald,  sev- 
enteenth Earl  of  Kildare,  son  of  preceding,  born 
in  1634,  died  in  1664,  and  was  buried  in  Christ 
Church,  Dublin. 

John  FitzGerald 

John  FitzGerald,  eighteenth  Earl  of  Kildare, 
son  of  the  seventeenth  earl,  was  born  in  1661, 
died  in  1707,  and  was  buried  in  Westminster 
Abbey.  In  1683  the  degree  of  D.  C.  L.  was  con- 
ferred upon  him  by  the  University  of  Oxford. 
In  1689  his  estates,  of  the  annual  value  of  £6,800 
in  Ireland,  and  £200  in  England,  were  seques- 
tered by  James'  Irish  Parliament.  He  sold  the 
family  lands  of  Adare  and  Croom  to  pay  off  in- 
cumbrances on  his  other  property. 

Robert  FitzGerald 

Robert  FitzGerald,  nineteenth  Earl  of  Kil- 
dare, grandson  of  the  sixteenth  earl,  was  born 
in  1675.  He  died  February  20,  1744,  and  was  in- 
terred in  Christ  Church.  Finding  Maynooth  Cas- 
tle too  much  dilapidated  to  be  restored,  he  pur- 
chased Carton,  the  present  seat  of  the  family. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  "extremely  formal  and 
delicate,  insomuch  that  when  he  was  married  to 
Lady  Mary  O'Brien,  one  of  the  most  shining 


IRISH  BlOuK.- 

beauties  then  in  the  world,  he 
],;.    ,  .  .M;r>g  gloves  to  embrace 

James  FitzGerald 

>  FitzGerald,  twentieth  , 
e  of  Leinster.  soi" 
.  1722.     He  laid  ;.  . 
nse,  Dublin,  saying^, 
an   unfashionable  pan 

i i  follow  me  wherever  T 

q  pence  of  a  spirited  remonstr 
•relative  to  the  disposition  of  the 
priated  surplus  of  Irish  revenue, 
of  the  most  popular  men  in  Ivt-] 
being  struck  in  his  honor.     He 
marquis  in  1761,  and  Duke  of  Ler. 

He  dkdJji.l^ister^Huu^i-V. - 
1773,  andM.s^bt&fS;in^€^iS?e^- 

he  married  Lady  Emily  Mary  Lt 

of  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  sister  of 

L;^        '  Conolly,  and  Lady 

Th.  .  .iC  sons  and  ten  dntiv 

the  s<  Lord  Edward  Fi     • 

CH'  '  r-in-chief  of   ^ 

1  ■  prison  in  1798  . . 

duke  many  y^iM 

.  V ,  bv  whorti  she  had 

>.  -^7,  1814. 

VViiiiam  R.  FitzGerald 

\\  iiiiani  Robert  FitzGerald. 
Leinster,  the  second  son  of  ti 
born  March  2,  1749.    Upon  the 
brother,  in  1765,  he  became  F 
when  his  father  was  created  di  ' 


DUKlv  oi  rn^XSXER 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  235 

beauties  then  in  the  world,  he  would  not  take  off 
his  wedding  gloves  to  embrace  her." 

James  FitzGerald 

James  FitzGerald,  twentieth  Earl  of  Kildare, 
and  first  Duke  of  Leinster,  son  of  preceding,  was 
born  May  29,  1722.  He  laid  the  foundations  of 
Leinster  House,  Dublin,  saying,  when  told  that 
it  was  in  an  unfashionable  part  of  the  town, 
"they  will  follow  me  wherever  I  go."  In  conse- 
quence of  a  spirited  remonstrance  to  the  King 
relative  to  the  disposition  of  the  large  unappro- 
priated surplus  of  Irish  revenue,  he  became  one 
of  the  most  popular  men  in  Ireland, — a  medal 
being  struck  in  his  honor.  He  was  created  a 
marquis  in  1761,  and  Duke  of  Leinster  in  1766. 

He  died  in  Leinster  House,  November  19, 
1773,  and  was  buried  in  Christ  Church.  In  1746 
he  married  Lady  Emily  Mary  Lennox,  daughter 
of  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  sister  of  Lady  Holland, 
Lady  Louisa  Conolly,  and  Lady  Sarah  Napier. 
They  had  nine  sons  and  ten  daughters.  Among 
the  sons  was  Lord  Edward  FitzGerald,  who  be- 
came commander-in-chief  of  the  United  Irish- 
men, and  died  in  prison  in  1798  (see  Volume  II.). 
She  survived  the  duke  many  years,  and  married 
William  Ogilvv,  bv  whom  she  had  two  daughters. 
She  died  March  27,  1814. 

William  R.  FitzGerald 

William  Robert  FitzGerald,  second  Duke  of 
Leinster,  the  second  son  of  the  preceding,  was 
born  March  2,  1749.  Upon  the  death  of  his  elder 
brother,  in  1765,  he  became  Earl  of  Offaly,  and 
when  his  father  was  created  duke,  in  1766,  he  was 


236  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

made  Marquis  of  Kildare.  In  1767  he  became 
member  of  Parliament  for  Dublin,  and  continued 
to  be  a  member  of  the  Irish  House  of  Commons 
until  his  father's  death,  in  1773.  He  held  many 
important  offices  connected  with  the  State,  was 
one  of  the  generals  of  the  Volunteers,  and  on 
the  institution  of  the  Order  of  St.  Patrick,  in 
1783,  was  the  first  of  the  original  knights. 

Upon  the  Union,  he  received  £28,800  com- 
pensation for  the  disfranchisement  of  Kildare 
and  Athy.  He  died  October  20,  1804,  leaving  a 
family  of  five  sons  and  eight  daughters.  Har- 
rington says:  "His  disposition  and  address  com- 
bined almost  every  quality  which  could  endear 
him  to  the  Nation;  ...  he  always  intended 
right.  .  .  .  Something  approaching  to  regal 
honors  attended  his  investiture'^  (as  a  General 
of  the  Volunteers). 

Augustus  F.  FitzGerald 

Augustus  Frederick  FitzGerald,  third  Duke 
of  Leinster,  Grand  Master  of  the  Freemasons  of 
Ireland,  eldest  son  of  the  second  duke,  was  born 
August  21,  1791.  When  quite  a  boy  he  succeeded 
his  father  as  Duke  of  Leinster.  He  was  educated 
at  Eton  and  at  Oxford.  In  politics  he  was 
a  Whig,  and  supported  in  the  House  of  Lords  the 
cause  of  Queen  Caroline,  Catholic  emancipation, 
the  Reform  Bill,  and  other  measures  of  a  liberal 
tendency.  Most  of  his  life  was  passed  in  Ireland, 
attending  to  the  duties  connected  with  his  estates 
and  his  position  in  the  country.  He  was  a  man 
of  great  refinement  and  amiability  of  character. 
He  died  October  10,  1874,  and  was  succeeded  b}'^ 
his  son.  Maurice  FitzGerald,  sixth  Duke  of  Lein- 
ster, born  in  1887,  "the  Premier  Duke,  Marquis, 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  237 

and  Earl  of  Ireland,"  is  the  present  representa- 
tive of  the  House  of  Kildare. 

Robert  FitzGerald 

Robert  FitzGerald,  second  son  of  the  six- 
teenth Earl  of  Kildare,  and  father  of  the  nine- 
teenth earl,  born  in  August,  1637,  was  an  active 
promoter  of  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  He 
received  estates,  and  many  offices  of  trust  and 
emolument  w^ere  conferred  upon  him.  Opposing 
James  II.'s  Irish  policy,  he  was  deprived  of  his 
lands  and  was  for  a  time  confined  in  Trinity  Col- 
lege with  about  fifty  other  persons  of  distinction. 
When  the  news  of  the  battle  of  the  Boyne  ar- 
rived, he  was  released,  and  exerted  himself  to 
preserve  Dublin  from  pillage  before  its  surrender 
to  William  HI.,  exhibiting  the  greatest  nerve  and 
executive  capacity. 

July  6,  when  William  entered  Dublin  in 
state,  it  was  FitzGerald  that  presented  him  with 
the  keys  of  the  castle  and  city.  The  King  re- 
turned them,  saying,  "Sir,  they  are  in  good 
hands;  you  deserve  them  well  and  may  keep 
them."  He  was  shortly  afterwards  restored  to 
all  his  estates  and  offices  of  trust,  and  reappointed 
on  the  Privy-Council.  He  died  January  31,  1699. 
He  was  the  author  of  a  work  extolling  the  bene- 
fits of  salt  water  sweetened  (London,  1683),  and 
of  "A  Full  and  True  Account  of  the  Late  Revolu- 
tion in  DubHn"  (London,  1690). 

Elizabeth  FitzGerald 

Lady  Elizabeth  FitzGerald,  generally  known 
as  "The  Fair  Geraldine,"  daughter  of  the  ninth 
earl  by  his  second  wife.  Lady  Elizabeth  Grey, 


238  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

was  born  about  1528,  and  was  still  an  infant  when 
she  was  taken  by  her  mother  to  England.  She 
was  brought  up  at  Hunsden,  with  the  Princesses 
Mary  and  Elizabeth.  When  about  thirteen  she 
was  there  seen  by  the  Earl  of  Surrey,  who  has  im- 
mortalized her  in  several  sonnets.  "There  is  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  the  friendship  which  ex- 
isted between  them  in  the  following  years  was 
anything  but  platonic."  There  is  an  apocryphal 
story  that  Surrey,  at  a  tournament  at  Florence, 
defied  all  the  world  to  show  such  beauty  as  hers, 
and  that  he  visited  the  celebrated  alchemist,  Cor- 
nelius Agrippa,  who  revealed  to  him  in  a  magic 
mirror  the  object  of  his  affections.  Scott,  in 
his  "Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,"  recounts  the  tale 
in  five  spirited  stanzas. 

In  1543,  when  but  fifteen,  "The  Fair  Ger- 
aldine"  married  Sir  Anthony  Brown,  K.  G.  After 
his  death,  in  1548,  she  became  the  third  wife  of 
the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  who  died  in  158v3,  without 
issue  by  her.  She  died  in  March,  1589,  and  was 
interred  beside  the  earl,  her  husband,  under  a 
fine  monument  in  St.  George's  Chapel  at  Wind- 
sor. A  fac-simile  of  a  letter  written  by  her,  and  a 
photograph  from  her  portrait  preserved  in  the 
Duke  of  Bedford's  gallery  (a  copy  of  which  is  at 
Carton)  are  given  in  the  Kilkenny  Archaeological 
Journal  for  1873. 

John  F.  FitzGerald 

John  EitzEdmund  EitzGerald,  seneschal  of 
Imokelly,  in  County  Cork,  was  one  of  the  distin- 
guished EitzGeralds  of  the  sixteenth  century, — 
"the  chief  man  of  service  among  the  rebels."  In 
1569  Sir  H.  Sidney  captured  his  castle  of  Bally- 
martar;    and  eventually,  with   FitzMaurice,  he 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  239 

had  to  submit  to  Sir  John  Perrot  among  the  ruins 
of  the  church  of  Kilmallock,  which  they  had  de- 
stroyed a  short  time  before.  When  FitzMaurice 
proceeded  to  France  to  seek  assistance  against 
England,  the  seneschal  was  discovered  to  be  in 
communication  with  him;  and  in  November, 
1579,  he  threw  aside  the  mask  of  loyalty  and 
invaded  the  country  of  the  Butlers,  burning  Ne- 
nagh  and  some  other  of  Ormond's  towns. 

Soon  after,  we  are  told,  "Sir  Walter  Rawley 
returning  from  Dublin,  had  a  hard  escape  from 
the  seneschal,  who  set  on  him  with  fourteen  horse 
and  sixty  foot.  .  .  .  The  seneschal  of  Imokelly 
killed  thirty-six  of  Pers's  soldiers,  and  ten  of  Sir 
W.  Morgan's,  as  they  had  been  to  get  a  prey." 
Next  year  he  burned  down  numerous  towns  in 
the  Decies,  and  carried  off  7,000  head  of  cattle, 
reaping  all  the  corn  and  conveying  it  into  hiding 
places  in  the  woods.  In  September,  1582,  he  was 
in  the  field  at  the  head  of  200  horse  and  2,000 
foot;  but  his  fortunes,  like  those  of  his  friend, 
the  Earl  of  Desmond,  were  soon  on  the  wane. 
Shortly  before  the  earl  was  slain,  the  seneschal, 
much  to  the  satisfaction  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  sub- 
mitted unconditionally;  and  Ormond,  respecting 
the  character  of  his  former  antagonist,  success- 
fully exerted  himself  to  save  his  life.  In  1585  he 
was  committed  to  Dublin  Castle,  where  he  ap- 
pears to  have  ended  his  troubled  career  early  in 
1589.  He  should  not  be  confounded  with  his 
namesake  and  cousin,  Sir  John  FitzEdmund 
FitzGerald. 

John  F.  FitzGerald 

Sir  John  FitzEdmund  FitzGerald,  seneschal 
of  Imokelly,  cousin  of  preceding,  was  born  about 


240  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

1528.  He  remained  with  the  Government  all 
through  the  Desmond  war,  although  often  sorely 
tempted  to  join  the  earl,  who  was  a  relative  of 
his.  In  July,  1572,  he  was  recommended  to  the 
Queen  by  Sir  Henry  Sidney  as  deserving  of  re- 
ward for  his  sufferings  in  her  service,  and  was 
granted  an  immediate  sum  of  100  marks  and  an 
annuity  of  100  more  out  of  the  Munster  for- 
feitures. When  Parliament  met  for  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  forfeitures  of  the  Desmond  estates, 
he  produced  a  deed  which  the  deceasel  earl  had 
made  of  his  property  to  him  before  the  war.  The 
dates  of  the  document  were  proved  to  be  erro- 
neous, and  his  character  for  loyalty  was  com- 
promised by  this  attempt  to  aid  the  family  of  his 
kinsman,  and  "cheat  the  greedy  undertakers  out 
of  their  prey." 

Nevertheless,  he  continued  to  show  himself 
"the  best  subject  the  Queen  had  in  Munster." 
In  March,  1601,  when  Mountjoy  sojourned  at 
his  house  in  Cloyne,  he  was  knighted.  He  was 
a  friend  of  Sir  George  Carew,  and  in  his  old  age 
was  in  the  enjoyment  of  as  much  leisure  and 
dignity  as  official  favor  could  procure  for  him. 
He  died  January  15,  1612,  and  was  buried  in 
Cloyne  Cathedral,  where  his  monument  may  still 
be  seen. 

Edward  FitzGerald 

Edward  FitzGerald,  a  leader  in  the  insur- 
rection of  1798,  was  a  country  gentleman  of 
ample  means,  who  was  born  at  Newpark,  County 
Wexford,  about  1770.  He  was  in  Wexford  jail 
on  suspicion  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  insurrec- 
tion in  1798,  was  released  by  the  populace,  and 
during  the  occupation  of  the  town  commanded 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  241 

in  some  of  the  engagements  that  took  place  in 
different  parts  of  the  country,  showing  far  more 
abihty  than  the  Commander-in-chief,  Bagenal  B. 
Harvey.  Dr.  Madden  says:  "With  regard  to 
the  prisoners  that  fell  into  his  hands  at  Gorey, 
he  behaved  in  the  most  humane  manner  possible; 
amid  the  threats  and  shouts  of  the  people  for 
vengeance  on  those  who  had  recently  slain  or 
butchered  their  nearest  relatives,  ...  he  said  to 
the  people:  'You  cannot  bring  the  dead  to  life 
by  imitating  the  brutality  of  your  enemies.  It 
is  for  us  to  follow  them,  and  come  face  to  face 
with  them.'  " 

He  particularly  distinguished  himself  at  the 
battle  of  Arklow,  where  he  commanded  the  vShel- 
malier  gunsmen.  He  afterwards  joined  in  the  ex- 
pedition against  Hacketstown;  and  surrendered 
upon  terms  to  General  Wilford,  in  July.  With 
Garrett  Byrne  and  others  he  was  detained  in  cus- 
tody in  Dublin  until  the  next  year,  when  he  was 
allowed  to  remove  to  England.  He  was  rear- 
rested, March  25,  1800,  imprisoned  for  a  short 
time,  and  then  permitted  to  emigrate  to  Ham- 
burg, where  he  died  in  1807.  He  is  described  as 
a  handsome,  finely  formed  man. 

Richard  De  Burgh 

Richard  De  Burgh,  Lord  of  Connaught,  was 
the  son  of  William  Fitzadelm  De  Burgh,  one  of 
the  original  Anglo-Normans  who  came  to  Ire- 
land under  King  Henry  II.  The  name  is  vari- 
ously spelled  De  Burgh,  De  Burgo,  De  Burgho, 
Burke,  or  Bourke.  In  1204  he  succeeded  to  large 
estates  in  the  province  of  Connaught,  which  were 
confirmed  to  him  by  King  John  for  a  fine  of  300 
marks,  and  by  Henry  III.  for  a  fine  of  3,000 


242  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

marks.  In  1225,  after  Cathal  O'Conor's  death, 
the  whole  of  Connaught,  with  the  exception  of 
five  cantreds  for  the  support  of  Athlone  garrison, 
was  made  over  to  him  for  500  marks  a  year. 
But  the  O'Conors  clung  to  their  patrimony,  and 
upon  one  occasion  Felim  O'Conor  was  even  dep- 
uted by  Henry  III.  to  act  against  De  Burgh  and 
check  his  rising  power.  De  Burgh  exercised  al- 
most regal  sway,  and  at  his  castle  at  Galway 
(built  in  1232),  and  in  that  at  Loughrea  (built 
in  1236),  he  was  attended  by  a  train  of  knights, 
barons,  and  gentlemen. 

He  was  for  some  time  Lord-Deputy  of  Ire- 
land. He  died  on  his  passage  to  France,  January, 
1243,  whither  he  was  proceeding,  attended  by  his 
barons  and  knights,  to  meet  the  King  of  England 
at  Bordeaux.  His  wife  was  Una,  daughter  of 
Hugh  O'Conor,  Prince  of  Connaught. 

Walter  De  Burgh 

Walter  De  Burgh,  first  Earl  of  Ulster,  son  of 
preceding,  married  Maud,  daughter  and  heiress 
of  Hugh  de  Lacy,  Earl  of  Ulster.  At  her  father's 
decease,  about  1243,  he  became,  in  her  right, 
Earl  of  Lllster.  He  was  eminent  for  power  and 
enterprise,  and  the  active  part  which  he  took 
in  the  events  of  that  troubled  period  of  Irish 
history.  The  contest  with  the  O'Conors,  be- 
queathed by  his  father,  was  continued  by  Walter. 
He  died  in  1271,  at  his  castle  in  Galway. 

Richard  De  Burgh 

Richard  De  Burgh,  second  Earl  of  Ulster, 
son  of  preceding,  commonly  called,  from  his  com- 
plexion, the  "Red  Earl,"  was  educated  at  the 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  243 

court  of  Henry  III.  For  his  successes  against 
the  Scots  he  was  made  general  over  the  Irish 
forces  in  Ireland,  Great  Britain,  and  France.  He 
was  considered  the  most  powerful  subject  of 
his  time  in  Ireland.  Besides  carrying  on  hos- 
tilities with  the  native  chieftains,  he  besieged 
Thomas  de  Verdon  in  Athlone,  and  advanced 
with  a  great  army  to  Trim.  Three  times  he  as- 
sisted the  English  kings  in  their  descents  upon 
Scotland. 

He  founded  monasteries  or  castles  at  Lough- 
rea,  Ballymote,  Corran,  Sligo,  Castleconnel  in 
Limerick,  and  Greencastle  in  Down.  So  high 
was  his  position  that  his  name  was  placed  be- 
fore that  of  the  Lord-Lieutenant  in  all  public 
documents.  In  1326  he  sumptuously  entertained 
the  Anglo-Norman  knights  of  the  Pale  assem- 
bled at  Kilkenny,  previous  to  shutting  himself 
up  in  the  monastery  at  Athassel,  where  he  died 
the  same  year. 

William  De  Burgh 

William  De  Burgh,  third  Earl  of  Ulster,  was 
born  in  1312,  and  succeeded  his  grandfather  in 
1326.  "He  was  slain  June  6,  1333,  by  Robert 
FitzRichard  Mandeville  (who  gave  him  the  first 
wound),  and  others,  his  servants,  near  to  the 
Fords,  in  going  towards  Carrickfergus,  in  the 
21st  year  of  his  age,  at  the  instigation,  it  was 
said,  of  Gyle  de  Burgh,  wife  of  Sir  Richard 
Mandeville,  in  revenge  for  his  having  imprisoned 
her  brother  Walter  and  others."  Three  hundred 
of  Sir  Richard  Mandeville's  followers  were  put 
to  death  for  this  crime. 

De  Burgh  married  Maud,  great-granddaugh- 


244  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

ter  of  Henry  III.  His  estates  were  seized  by  his 
relatives,  a  branch  of  the  De  Burghs,  who  aban- 
doned the  Norman  name,  and  adopted  that  of 
MacWilHam,  assumed  Irish  dress  and  customs, 
and  ruled  over  Connaught  conjointly.  Through 
his  daughter,  who  married  Lionel,  Duke  of  Clar- 
ence, third  son  of  King  Edward  HI.,  the  titles  of 
Ulster  and  Connaught  were  added  to  those  of 
the  royal  family. 

Elizabeth  De  Burgh 

Lady  Elizabeth  De  Burgh,  only  child  and 
heiress  of  preceding,  born  in  1332,  married,  in 
1352,  Lionel,  son  of  Edward  HI.,  who  became  in 
her  right  fourth  Earl  of  Ulster  and  Lord  of  Con- 
naught. Her  daughter  Philippa,  wife  of  Edmund 
Mortimer,  was  ancestor  of  Edward  IV.  and  sub- 
sequent British  sovereigns. 

Ulick  De  Burgh 

Ulick  De  Burgh,  first  Earl  of  Clanricard,  was 
a  descendant  of  the  second  son  of  Richard  De 
Burgh,  Lord  of  Connaught.  He  fortified  Ros- 
common, Galway,  Loughrea,  Leitrim,  and  several 
other  towns.  He  was,  according  to  Lodge,  called 
by  the  native  Irish  "Negan,"  or  the  beheader, 
having  made  a  mound  of  the  heads  of  men  slain 
in  battle,  which  he  covered  with  earth."  In 
1538  he  covenanted  to  furnish  King  Henry  VIII. 
with  men  and  supplies,  and,  surrendering  his 
large  estates  into  the  King's  hands,  received  them 
back  with  the  title  of  Earl  of  Clanricard  in  1543. 
He  died  October  19,  1544,  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  son  Richard. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  245 

Richard  De  Burgh 

Richard  De  Burgh,  second  Earl  of  Clanri- 
card,  succeeded  upon  his  father's  death  in  1544. 
He  was  known  among  the  native  Irish  as  "Sas- 
sanagh,"  on  account  of  being  a  firm  adherent  to 
the  EngHsh  rule.  In  1548  he  captured  Cormac 
Roe  O'Conor,  of  Offaly,  and  sent  him  to  Dublin, 
where  he  was  executed.  He  was  constantly  en- 
gaged in  harassing  and  sanguinary  feuds  with 
other  branches  of  the  De  Burghs.  In  1553,  with 
Sir  Richard  Bingham,  he  routed  the  Scots  on  the 
Moy.  He  was  thrice  married:  (1)  to  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Murrough,  first  Earl  of  Thomond; 
(2)  Catherine,  daughter  of  Donough,  second 
Earl  of  Thomond;  (3)  Honora,  daughter  of 
O'Brien  of  Duharras.  He  died  July  24,  1582, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  son.  The  last  years 
of  his  life  were  disturbed  by  dissensions  of  his 
sons. 

Richard  De  Burgh 

Richard  De  Burgh,  fourth  Earl  of  Clanri- 
card  and  Earl  of  St.  Alban's,  son  of  the  third 
earl,  succeeded  in  1601,  upon  his  father's  death. 
In  1599  he  was  made  Governor  of  Connaught 
by  the  Earl  of  Essex;  and  he  greatly  distin- 
guished himself  on  the  English  side  at  the  siege 
and  battle  of  Kinsale  in  1601,  when  he  was 
knighted  on  the  field.  King  James  I.  appointed 
him  Governor  of  Connaught  and  one  of  the  privy 
council.  In  1624  he  was  raised  to  an  English 
peerage  as  Baron  Somerhill,  and  four  years  after- 
wards was  advanced  to  the  Earldom  of  St.  Al- 
ban's. He  married  Frances,  the  widow  of  Sir 
Philip  Sidney  and  the  Earl  of  Essex,  by  whom 


246  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

he  had  an  only  son,  who  succeeded  him.    He  died 
November  12,  1635. 

Ulich  De  Burgh 

Ulich  De  Burgh,  fifth  Earl  and  Marquis  of 
Clanricard,  son  of  preceding,  was  born  in  1604. 
He  attended  Charles  I.  on  his  campaign  in  Scot- 
land in  1640,  and  continued  on  the  Royalist  side 
in  the  war  of  1641-52.  Although  his  name  ap- 
pears prominently  in  "Clarendon's  History,"  his 
role  was  rather  that  of  a  negotiator  than  a  war- 
rior. In  1644  he  was  created  a  marquis  and  ap- 
pointed commander-in-chief  in  Connaught.  He 
supported  the  Marquis  of  Ormond  in  the  matter 
of  the  cessation  of  hostilities;  and  when  Ormond 
retired  to  France,  accepted  the  Lord-Lieuten- 
ancy of  Ireland.  "He  was  a  prime  mover  in  the 
negotiations  with  the  Duke  of  Lorraine,  for  mak- 
ing over  to  him  some  of  the  strong  places  of  the 
island  in  return  for  a  sum  of  money,  but  ulti- 
mately was  obliged  to  repudiate  the  arrange- 
ment." 

In  1652,  wearied  with  Irish  affairs,  by  the 
consent  of  Prince  Charles  and  with  the  leave  of 
the  Puritan  General  Ludlow,  he  retired  to  his 
estate  in  Kent.  He  died  in  1657,  worn  out  by 
the  fatigues  and  troubles  to  which  he  had  been 
exposed.  He  was  buried  with  his  father  at  Tun- 
bridge.  He  was  a  zealous  Catholic.  Both  Clar- 
endon and  Carte  speak  in  the  highest  terms  of 
his  character.  The  latter  writes:  "He  had  a 
greatness  of  mind,  a  nobleness  of  sentiments, 
and  an  integrity  of  heart,  that  were  not  to  be 
corrupted  by  any  temptation,  or  biased  by  any 
selfish,  mean,  or  unworthy  views;  compassion- 
ate in  his  temper,  sincere  in  his  professions,  true 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  247 

and  constant  in  his  friendships,  and  delicate  (if 
possible  to  an  excess)  in  the  point  of  honor;  no 
man  ever  loved  his  country  or  his  friend  better 
than  he  did,  being  ready  on  all  occasions  to  sac- 
rifice himself  for  either." 

John  De  Burgh 

John  De  Burgh,  ninth  Earl  of  Clanricard, 
commanded  a  regiment  of  foot  in  the  service  of 
King  James  II.,  and  was  taken  prisoner  at  the 
battle  of  Aughrim.  He  was  outlawed  and  at- 
tainted, and  died  in  1722.  On  the  accession  of 
Queen  Anne  the  attainder  was  removed  and  the 
estates  restored  to  his  children.  This  branch  of 
the  De  Burghs  is  now  represented  by  Hubert, 
second  Marquis  and  fifteenth  Earl  of  Clanricard. 

Grace  O'Malley 

BY  S.  M.  O'MALLEY 

Grace  O'Malley  flourished  in  the  16th  cen- 
tury. In  the  history  of  Ireland  and  the  con- 
sequent delineations  of  the  lives  of  Irish  men 
and  women,  there  is  not  a  character  in  all  the 
chroniclings  that  receives  the  conflicting  atten- 
tions bestowed  upon  the  personalities  of  "Grainne 
O'Malley."  A  few  historians  are  desirous  of 
placing  her  character  in  the  evilest  construction, 
and  others  are  determined  to  glorify  her  appear- 
ance and  attributes  to  angelic  perfection. 

To  conceive  the  proper  setting  for  this 
strong  and  magnetic  woman,  one  must  picture 
the  time  in  which  she  reigned  and  place  well  in 
mind  the  men  and  women  who  were  her  contem- 
poraries.    Her  name  "Grainne"  does  not  signify 


248  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

a  virtue  in  the  accepted  meaning,  but  translated 
reads  "The  Ugly,"  and  is  supposed  to  refer  to 
her  terrible  temper.  The  majority  of  writers 
compared  indicate  that  she  was  tall  and  robust, 
masculine  in  appearance,  and  so  prominent  and 
dominant  in  her  character  that  the  West  of  Ire- 
land is  filled  with  traditions  of  her  prowess,  her 
temper,  her  wild  escapades,  and  the  singularly 
just  and  impartial  decisions  she  made  when,  in 
her  capacity  of  warrior  chieftainess,  she  was 
called  to  decide  disputes  or  annihilate  an  enemy. 
Outside  of  tradition  there  is  very  little  authentic 
history  of  this  Queen  of  Ireland,  many  writers 
falling  into  vague  or  mythical  compositions  from 
which  it  is  difficult  to  extract  the  radiant  jewel 
of  Truth. 

In  the  year  1877  there  were  old  people  living 
in  Ireland  "who,"  as  one  author  quaintly  records, 
"had  talked  with  people  who  knew  this  fiery  and 
heroic  queen";  therefore,  traditionary  history 
may  be  considered  fairly  authentic.  Beyond  all 
other  attributes  she  was  a  Queen  of  the  sea  with- 
out parallel  in  mediaeval  or  modern  times.  A 
pirate  she  was,  no  doubt,  but  when  we  consider 
the  seafaring  side  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  or  his 
half-brother,  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  and  Sir 
Francis  Drake,  who  were  her  contemporaries, 
we  must  consider  their  adventures  on  the  sea  in 
no  other  light  than  that  of  piracy. 

Therefore  we  can  suppose  that  the  expedi- 
tions by  sea  of  the  doughty  Queen  were  under- 
taken in  the  same  maritime  spirit  which  actu- 
ated her  wealthier  contemporaries.  Her  mother 
was  an  O'Malley  as  well  as  her  father,  but  her 
dark  complexion  indicated  the  presence  of  Span- 
ish blood,  for  in  these  days  the  Western  Irish 
had  large  tradings  with  the  commercial  and  wine 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  249 

trading  Spanish.  Her  father,  Owen  O'Malley, 
known  as  Dhubdara, — *'Of  the  Black  Oak," — 
was  Lord  of  O'Malley's  Land,  or  "Ui-ni-hail!e" 
(pronounced  "hoole"),  comprising  the  Baronies 
of  Murisk  and  Borriholle,  along  the  seacoast.  He 
was  also  Lord  of  Arran.  In  these  days  Arran 
was  inhabited  by  a  singularly  wild  race  known 
as  the  most  intrepid  mariners  along  the  Irish 
coast. 

At  her  father's  death,  she  began  to  take  the 
part  that  has  made  her  famous.  The  laws  of 
Ireland  at  that  date  denied  to  women  the  right 
to  inherit  property,  and  any  leadership  was  rig- 
idly forbidden  them.  But  Grainne,  by  right  of 
might,  put  aside  her  younger  brother  and  soon 
evidenced  herself  along  the  shores  of  Connemara 
(bays  of  the  sea),  her  chief  harbor  being  on 
Clare  Island  in  Newport  Bay.  Here  was  her 
stronghold.  Carrigahowly  Castle,  built  to  the 
water's  edge,  where,  tradition  says  of  her,  she 
slept  with  a  rope  fastened  to  her  own  ship,  and 
running  through  a  hole  in  the  castle  wall  to  the 
watchful  chieftainess'  couch,  where  it  was  fas- 
tened to  her  wrist,  so  that  the  enemy  could  not 
find  her  unaware  at  any  hour. 

It  may  be  said  of  her  truthfully  that,  while 
England's  Queen  controlled  the  British  nation 
with  a  well  organized  code  of  laws,  ''Grana 
Wail,"  as  Irish  balladists  love  to  sing  of  her,  was, 
by  the  sheer  force  of  her  indomitable  will,  hold- 
ing in  subjection  the  fiercest  and  most  lawless 
body  of  men  in  Ireland,  the  so-called  pirates  of 
the  Atlantic  coast. 

Her  first  husband  was  an  O'Flaherty,  whose 
warlike  deeds  earned  him  the  cognomen  of  "Au 
Chogaidh,"— i.  e.,  "Of  the  Wars."  So  much 
was  the  name  of  O'Flaherty  feared  it  is  said  that 


250  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

when  the  Anglo-Normans  took  possession  of  Gal- 
way,  they  inserted  in  their  rosary  the  following 
special  clause:  "From  the  ferocious  O'Flahertys, 
good  Lord,  deliver  us." 

At  her  husband's  death,  according  to  law, 
she  could  not  control  his  property,  and  by  her 
marriage  she  had  lost  prestige  with  her  own  fam- 
ily; therefore  she  gave  as  an  excuse  to  Queen 
Elizabeth,  for  her  piratical  expeditions,  that  she 
was  very  poor;  or,  in  other  words,  piracy  was 
her  commerce.  For  a  second  husband  she  took 
vSir  Richard  Bourke,  Lord  of  the  Mayo  Sept  of 
the  great  Norman-Irish  Clan.  The  Irish  have  a 
peculiar  tendency  to  create  names  descriptive  of 
some  particular  personality;  therefore  he  was 
called  "Richard  in  Iron,"  because  of  the  plate 
armor  he  was  encased  in.  The  Irish  Queen  vis- 
ited England  some  time  after  this  marriage,  and 
presented  her  son  Theobald,  whom  Queen  Eliza- 
beth created  Viscount  Mayo,  the  first  of  the  lords 
of  that  name. 

Illustrative  of  her  just  impulses  and  the  wild 
and  warlike  way  in  which  she  arrived  at  the  de- 
sired conclusions,  is  related  in  the  following 
story:  Returning  from  England  to  Connaught, 
a  storm  blew  her  vessel  into  Howth  harbor,  and 
landing,  Grace  craved  the  hospitality  of  Howth 
Castle,  but  in  vain,  for  all  the  doors  were  locked 
and  her  summons  remained  unanswered.  See- 
ing a  child  walking  in  the  grounds,  and  being 
told  he  was  heir  of  Howth,  she  kidnaped  him 
and  carried  him  to  Connaught.  As  a  ransom 
she  demanded  that  the  doors  of  the  castle  should 
never  be  closed  at  meal  time,  a  command  that 
was  literally  obeyed. 

Grace,  too,  gave  a  great  impetus  to  educa- 
tion and  religion  in  building  and  endowing  mon- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  251 

asteries,  especially  one  on  Clare  Island,  and  in 
this,  tradition  says,  she  was  buried. 

All  in  all,  tradition  and  authentic  history 
sifted,  and  facts  preserved,  we  see  only  a  woman 
to  admire — a  strong  and  fierce  personality, 
forced  into  questionable  positions  by  the  weak- 
ness of  others,  and  holding  in  obedience  to  her 
orderly  rule  some  of  the  most  unruly  and  fero- 
cious warriors  of  that  day.  Always  mindfully 
inclined  to  justice  and  religion,  and  living,  as 
she  demanded  of  others,  a  life  of  strenuous  en- 
deavor, she  is  a  woman  to  worship,  as  many  of 
her  followers  did, — a  mighty  mantle  of  protec- 
tion to  the  poorer  and  weaker  creatures  of  her 
clan. 

Michael  Murphy 

Michael  Murphy,  R.  C.  clergyman,  who  took 
an  active  part  in  the  insurrection  of  1798  in 
County  Wexford,  was  born  at  Kilnew,  in  that 
county,  and  was  educated  at  a  hedge-school  at 
Oulart.  Having  been  ordained  at  Ferns  in  1785, 
he  proceeded  to  Bordeaux,  and  pursued  his 
studies  at  the  Irish  College.  After  his  return  he 
became  parish  priest  of  Ballycanew.  Dr.  Mad- 
den says  he  was  driven  into  joining  the  insurrec- 
tion by  his  chapel  being  wrecked  by  the  yeomen. 
He  shared  the  fortunes  of  Dr.  John  Murphy's 
brigade  until  his  heroic  death  at  the  battle  of 
Arklow,  June  9,  1798. 

John  Murphy 

John  Murphy,  D.  D.,  R.  C.  clergyman,  acted 
as  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Wexford  insurgents 
in  1798.    He  was  born  at  Tincurry,  County  .Wex- 


252  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

ford,  studied  at  Seville,  took  orders,  and  returned 
to  Ireland  in  1785,  and  became  parish  priest  of 
Boulavogue.  In  November,  1797,  he  joined 
eighteen  Catholic  clergymen  in  endeavoring  to 
avert  the  proclamation  of  martial  law  in  their 
parishes.  He  is  said  to  have  been  driven  into 
insurrection  by  the  oppressive  conduct  of  the 
soldiers  and  yeomanry,  and  by  the  wreck  of  his 
chapel.  On  the  25th  of  May  he  took  the  field  at 
the  head  of  a  large  body  of  pikemen,  defeated  a 
party  of  troops  at  Oulart,  next  day  took  Camo- 
lin  and  Enniscorthy,  and  encamped  on  Vinegar 
Hill.  After  the  defeats  at  Arklow  and  Vinegar 
Hill,  he  joined  the  column  that  passed  through 
Scollagh  Gap,  crossed  the  Barrow,  and  was  de- 
feated at  Kilcomney.  Dr.  Murphy  found  his 
way  to  Taghmon,  where  he  was  recognized  and 
arrested.    He  was  executed,  June  26,  1798. 


Edward  Duffy 

Edward  Duffy,  a  Fenian  leader,  was  born  in 
County  Mayo,  in  1840.  In  1863  he  gave  up  a  sit- 
uation and  devoted  himself  to  spreading  Eenian 
principles  in  Connaught.  He  was  arrested  in 
November,  1865,  in  company  with  James  Ste- 
phens, at  Fairfield  House,  Sandymount,  and  was 
sentenced  to  a  term  of  imprisonment,  but  was 
liberated  on  bail  in  January,  1866,  in  consequence 
of  ill  health.  He  again  applied  himself  to  the 
organization,  was  rearrested,  and  tried  again  in 
May,  1867,  and  sentenced  to  fifteen  years'  penal 
servitude.  He  died  in  Millbank  prison,  January 
17,  1868.  A  portion  of  his  speech  delivered  in  the 
dock  before  conviction  has  been  inscribed  on  his 
tomb  in  Glasnevin. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  253 

Esmonde  Kyan 

Esmonde  Kyan,  leader  in  the  insurrection  of 
1798,  was  a  gentleman  of  some  property,  who  re- 
sided at  Monamolin,  near  Oulart.  At  the  break- 
ing out  of  hostilities  in  County  Wexford,  he 
threw  himself  heartily  into  the  struggle.  Cour- 
ageous to  desperation,  his  arm  was  shattered  at 
the  battle  of  Arklow,  while  leading  his  division 
against  the  Royalist  artillery.  Confined  in  Wex- 
ford by  this  wound,  he  did  all  he  could  to  pre- 
vent the  massacre  of  Royalists  on  the  bridge. 
He  subsequently  joined  the  patriot  force  that, 
after  the  fall  of  Wexford,  endeavored  to  pene- 
trate the  County  of  Carlow,  and  for  a  time  held 
out  with  Holt,  Myles  Byrne,  and  Dwyer  in  the 
glens  of  Wicklow. 

Returning  to  his  home  secretly  to  visit  his 
relatives,  he  was  arrested,  and  executed  in  July, 
1798.  Few  particulars  are  preserved  of  his  life. 
He  was  uniformly  spoken  of  by  his  associates 
in  terms  of  the  highest  respect,  as  a  man  of  tal- 
ents and  nobility  of  character.  Myles  Byrne 
writes:  "He  was,  of  all  the  chiefs  of  our  little 
Irish  army,  the  one  who  merited  most  good  terms 
from  the  English.  Throughout  the  war  he  had 
shown  the  greatest  humanity,  and  made  unceas- 
ing exertions  to  save  the  lives  of  prisoners,  even 
of  those  whose  hands  were  steeped  in  the  blood 
of  the  inhabitants  of  County  Wexford." 

Henry  Munro 

Henry  Munro,  United  Irishman,  was  born 
in  Lisburn,  about  1768.  At  the  termination  of 
his  apprenticeship  he  entered  into  the  linen  busi- 


254  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

ness,  and  shortly  afterwards  married.  He  is  de- 
scribed as  of  fair  complexion,  with  intelligent 
features  and  large  blue  eyes;  of  middle  size,  and 
remarkable  for  strength  and  agility.  He  was, 
says  Dr.  Madden,  scrupulously  honorable  in  his 
dealings,  truthful  and  faithful.  A  liberal  Presby- 
terian, he  was  the  ardent  advocate  of  Catholic 
Emancipation,  and  to  forward  this  object  he 
joined  the  United  Irishmen  in  1795.  He  had 
been  a  Volunteer,  and  always  had  a  taste  for  mili- 
tary studies;  yet  we  are  told  that  leadership  in 
the  ensuing  insurrection  was  rather  pressed  upon 
him.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the  insurrection  in 
1798,  Munro  occupied  Ballynahinch,  in  Down. 
The  disposition  of  his  forces  was  made  with  great 
care. 

There  on  the  13th  of  June  he  was  attacked 
by  General  Nugent  with  about  1,600  men  and 
eight  pieces  of  artillery,  and  what  has  been  since 
known  as  the  battle  of  Ballynahinch  was  fought. 
The  insurgents  defended  themselves  for  a  time 
with  stubborn  pertinacity.  Exposed  to  the  cross- 
fire of  musketry  in  the  market  square,  raked  by 
artillery,  their  ammunition  exhausted,  they  still 
pressed  boldly  on  the  Royalists  with  pike  and 
bayonet.  But  in  the  end  they  were  overpowered. 
Munro  escaped,  alone  and  unattended,  to  the 
mountains,  but  was  eventually  captured,  tried  by 
court-martial,  and  executed  at  Lisburn,  opposite 
his  own  house.  He  displayed  wonderful  forti- 
tude at  the  foot  of  the  gallows,  gave  directions 
concerning  an  unsettled  account  with  a  neigh- 
bor, and  after  uttering  the  words,  "Tell  my  coun- 
try I  deserved  better  of  it,"  gave  the  signal  for 
his  own  execution.  His  widow  survived  until 
1840. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  255 

William  Archer  Butler 

William  Archer  Butler,  professor  of  moral 
philosophy  in  the  University  of  Dublin,  was  born 
at  Annerville,  near  Clonmel,  in  1814,  or  perhaps 
a  year  or  two  earlier.  At  the  age  of  nine  he  was 
sent  to  the  endowed  school  at  Clonmel,  whose 
able  master,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bell,  sent  many  emi- 
nent scholars  into  the  world.  Two  years  after 
this  Butler  entered  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  and 
in  1832  obtained  a  scholarship. 

While  still  in  his  undergraduate  course  he 
contributed  largely  to  the  periodical  literature 
of  the  day.  The  Dublin  University  Magazine 
was  just  then  launched,  and  among  its  ablest 
contributors  was  Butler.  His  poetical  pieces  at- 
tracted notice,  and  helped  to  give  that  periodical 
the  high  reputation  for  poetry  which  it  has  ever 
since  retained.  His  refined  taste  in  criticism  and 
his  elegance  of  diction  made  him  an  able  and  pop- 
ular reviewer,  and  some  of  his  essays  on  history 
and  philosophy  still  rank  high  in  the  estimation  of 
scholars.  In  November,  1835,  Butler  obtained  the 
first  ethical  moderatorship  at  his  degree  exam- 
ination,— a  prize  then  for  the  first  time  instituted. 
Just  at  the  time  his  scholarship  ended  Dr. 
Lloyd,  the  provost  of  Trinity  College,  estimating 
the  abilities  of  Butler,  succeeded  in  founding  a 
professorship  of  moral  philosophy,  and  he  who 
was  the  first  to  gain  an  ethical  moderatorship  in 
the  college  was  also  the  first  to  fill  the  professor's 
chair.  The  young  professor  was  now  upon  a 
field  worthy  of  his  endowments.  His  lectures 
were  as  remarkable  for  their  eloquence  as  for 
their  profound  philosophy.  The  living  of  Clonde- 
horka  in  County  Donegal  was  presented  to  him 
with  the  chair  of  moral  philosophy.    This  prefer- 


256  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

ment  he  held  till  1842,  discharging  with  zeal  and 
faithfulness  the  duties  of  his  office,  in  a  wild  and 
poor  district.  In  the  last-mentioned  year  he  was 
re-elected  to  the  professorship,  and  promoted  to 
the  rectory  of  Raymoghy  in  the  diocese  of 
Raphoe,  where  he  spent  a  large  portion  of  the 
rest  of  his  life  in  parochial  ministrations,  and  in 
literary,  religious  and  philosophic  study. 

During  the  year  1845  the  religious  contro- 
versy engaged  his  attention,  the  result  of  which 
was  his  "Letters  on  Mr.  Newman's  Theory  of 
Development,"  pronounced  by  eminent  Protest- 
ant divines  to  be  "models  and  masterpieces  of 
polemical  composition."  In  1848  he  was  em- 
ployed on  a  work  on  Faith,  and,  in  collecting  ma- 
terials for  it,  he  was  engaged  during  the  short 
period  of  his  life  that  remained.  On  Trinity  Sun- 
day, 1848,  he  preached  with  his  usual  power  the 
ordination  sermon  for  the  Anglican  Bishop  of 
Derry  at  Dunboe.  On  his  return  home  the  fol- 
lowing Friday,  he  was  seized  with  fever.  The 
progress  of  the  malady  was  rapid  and  fatal,  and 
he  died  on  the  5th  of  July. 

"As  a  poet  he  was  tender,  imaginative,  re- 
fined, and  classical,  and  won  the  commendation 
of  so  severe  a  judge  as  Professor  Wilson.  As  a 
preacher  his  eloquence  was  of  the  highest  order, 
— passionate  without  rant,  affluent  in  all  the 
grace  of  figure  and  illustration,  yet  comprehen- 
sible to  the  most  ordinary  intelligence.  As  an 
ethical  philosopher,  he  attained  to  a  deservedly 
high  repute,  considering  the  few  years  he  was 
permitted  to  devote  to  so  arduous  a  study;  and 
the  lectures  which  he  delivered  and  the  essays 
which  he  has  left  are  characterized  as  well  by 
the  soundness  of  their  views  and  brilliancy  of 
their  rhetoric  as  by  the  elegance  and  classicality 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  257 

of  a  style  which  is  nevertheless  eminently  prac- 
tical and  often  thoroughly  simple."  The  work 
on  which  his  reputation  is  based  is  the  "Lectures 
on  the  History  of  Ancient  Philosophy,"  two 
volumes,  1856;  second  edition,  1875. 

Henry  Cooke 

Henry  Cooke  was  born  at  Grillagh,  near 
Maghera,  County  Londonderry,  May  11,  1788. 
He  was  the  youngest  of  four  children.  At  four- 
teen he  entered  the  University  of  Glasgow;  com- 
pleted his  undergraduate  career  in  1805;  passed 
through  the  ordinary  course  of  theological  train- 
ing, and  in  November,  1808,  was  ordained  to  the 
pastoral  care  of  the  congregation  of  Duneane, 
near  Randalstown.  His  ministerial  income 
amounted  at  first  to  about  £25  a  year.  After 
two  years  he  removed  to  the  care  of  another 
congregation  at  Donegore,  near  Templepatrick, 
and  about  the  same  time  married  Miss  Ellen 
Mann.  In  1815  he  obtained  leave  of  absence, 
and  resumed  his  studies  at  Glasgow  for  eighteen 
months. 

In  1817  he  entered  Trinity  College,  Dublin, 
and  attended  medical  classes  at  the  Royal  Col- 
lege of  Surgeons.  Upon  Sundays  he  occupied 
the  pulpits  of  Presbyterian  congregations  in  Dub- 
lin and  other  parts  of  Leinster.  September  8, 
1818,  found  him  installed  pastor  of  Killyleagh, 
on  the  banks  of  Strangford  Lough.  In  1829, 
chiefly  through  his  efforts,  matters  were  brought 
to  a  point  with  the  Presbyterian  ministers  who 
held  Unitarian  views,  and  his  v/ishes  were  grati- 
fied in  their  withdrawing  from  the  general  Pres- 
bvterian  bodv,  and  forming  the  Remonstrant 
Synod  of  Ulster.     In  1829  the  degree  of  D.  D. 


258  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

was  conferred  on  him  by  the  board  of  Jefferson 
College,  in  the  United  States.  He  opposed  the 
new  system  of  Irish  National  Education;  also 
Daniel  O'Connell's  Irish  policy.  In  1837  the  de- 
gree of  LL.D.  was  conferred  upon  him  by 
Dublin  University.  In  1841  O'Connell  went  to 
Belfast  in  promotion  of  the  Repeal  movement, 
which  was  responded  to  by  the  holding  of  a  large 
anti-Repeal  meeting  headed  by  a  number  of 
peers,  officeholders,  and  magistrates,  all  obnox- 
ious to  national  sympathies.  Cooke  made  a 
speech  on  this  occasion,  and  a  testimonial  of 
£2,000  was  presented  to  him  for  his  exertions  in 
opposition  to  O'Connell. 

For  seven  years  his  spare  hours  were  devoted 
to  the  preparation  of  an  "Analytical  Concordance 
of  Scripture."  When  the  manuscript  was  com- 
plete, he  took  it  to  London  to  arrange  for  a  pub- 
lisher. The  hotel  at  which  he  stopped  was 
burned,  and  the  work  which  had  cost  him  so 
many  years'  toil  was  reduced  to  ashes.  In  the 
midst  of  other  avocations,  he  managed  to  edit  a 
new  edition  of  "Brown's  Family  Bible."  In  the 
Theological  College  endowed  in  Belfast  by  the 
government,  Cooke  was  appointed  president,  an 
office  which  he  held  until  his  death.  In  1849  he 
was  appointed  the  Dean  of  Residence  for  the 
Presbyterian  students  of  Belfast.  For  many 
years  he  was  the  leading  preacher  and  champion 
of  the  orthodox  party  of  his  church  in  Ireland. 

It  is  stated  that  three-fourths  of  the  new 
Presbyterian  churches  in  Ireland,  besides  many 
in  England  and  Scotland,  were  opened  by  him; 
so  that  a  considerable  portion  of  his  time  was 
taken  up  in  traveling.  He  died  December  13, 
1868.  A  public  funeral  and  the  erection  of  a 
statue  testified  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held 


IRISH  BIOGRAi 

The  Athenaeum 
vas  powerful  and  ef' 
"f  sarcasm,  a  store  < 
•  draw  upon  at  will,  a 
all  kinds  at  his  co- 
.    .    ."    His  portrau 
>  by  J.  S.  Porter,  Londoi 

Adam  Clarke 

AU.ivvi  Clarke,  Methc' 
larly  distinguished  as  a   L'.-    . 
was  born  in  County  Londondt 
1762.     At  the  age  of  fourtr.  -• 
the  establishment  of  a  linLi- 
finding  this  employment  not 
he  returned  home  after  a  sho! 
vitation  of  John  Wesley,  he  ' 
school  at   Kingswood,  n^^j 
d'-vofed  his  time  unreserv: 


Sp'r    -rr-    :li 

'■■  ministry.     In   i. 

^) 

ad  for  twenty  y< 

cipri'ily  ui 

threat  Britain,  i^i 

rcligioi^  -  • 

■  'ssions  of  the  We- 

an  In 

;  and  powerful  ]• 

nular  during  tlu 

r.    By  diligent  y^ 

e  duties  of  his  m 

nowledge  of  not   r 

o  of  Hebrew,  Ch  •• 

Coptic,  and  the  : 

he  published  a  "]' 

!^.ix  volumes.     Th; 

hi 

rreat  reputation.     F 

he  w 

:»an  of  the  Surrey   i 

was  ci!  V  ■ ' 

M  a  member  of  the  J^ 

quaries  and  of  the  Royal  Irish 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  259 

in  Belfast.  The  Athenaeum  thus  writes:  "His 
oratory  was  powerful  and  effective;  .  .  .  great 
powers  of  sarcasm,  a  store  of  anecdote,  which 
he  could  draw  upon  at  will,  a  vivid  imagination, 
words  of  all  kinds  at  his  command,  and  a  fine 
elocution.  .  .  ."  His  portrait  is  prefixed  to  his 
biography  by  J.  S.  Porter,  London,  1871. 

Adam  Clarke 

Adam  Clarke,  Methodist  Minister,  particu- 
larly distinguished  as  a  biblical  commentator, 
was  born  in  County  Londonderry  in  1760  or 
1762.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  was  placed  in 
the  establishment  of  a  linen  manufacturer,  but 
finding  this  employment  not  suited  to  his  tastes, 
he  returned  home  after  a  short  time.  On  the  in- 
vitation of  John  Wesley,  he  became  a  pupil  in  a 
school  at  Kingswood,  near  Bristol.  There  he 
devoted  his  time  unreservedly  to  preparing  him- 
self for  the  ministry.  In  1782  he  was  ordained 
by  Wesley,  and  for  twenty  years  he  labored  prin- 
cipally in  Great  Britain,  in  furtherance  of  the 
religious  missions  of  the  Wesleyan  Church.  As 
an  intelligent  and  powerful  preacher,  he  was  re- 
markably popular  during  the  whole  of  his  min- 
isterial career.  By  diligent  application,  without 
neglecting  the  duties  of  his  ministry,  he  acquired 
a  practical  knowledge  of  not  only  Greek  and 
Latin,  but  also  of  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  Syriac,  Per- 
sic, Ethiopic,  Coptic,  and  the  Arabic  languages. 

In  1802  he  published  a  "Bibliographical  Dic- 
tionary," in  six  volumes.  This  work  increased 
his  already  great  reputation.  For  a  short  time 
he  was  librarian  of  the  Surrey  Institution.  He 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Anti- 
quaries and  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy;   and 


26o  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

the  University  of  St.  Andrews  conferred  on  him 
the  degrees  of  M.  A.  and  LL.  D.  By  the  Com- 
missioners of  Public  Records  Dr.  Clarke  was  en- 
gaged to  prepare  a  new  edition  of  "Rymer's 
Foedera,"  of  which,  however,  only  three  volumes 
were  published.  To  one  great  work  he  devoted 
the  best  energies  of  his  life, — "The  Holy  Bible, 
with  a  Commentary  and  Critical  Notes."  The 
first  volume  appeared  in  1810;  the  eighth  and 
last  in  1826, — "a.  monument  of  learning  and  in- 
dustry." Some  critics,  however,  believe  he  was 
too  fond  of  innovations,  and  that  many  of  his 
comments  are  exceptionable.  He  was  the  author 
of  several  other  works,  among  which  are :  *'The 
Succession  of  Sacred  Literature,"  1807;  "Mem- 
oirs of  the  Wesley  Family,"  1823;  and  "The 
Eucharist."  He  also  edited  Harmer's  Observa- 
tions, Butterworth's  Concordance,  Sturne's  Re- 
flections, and  Fleury's  Manners  of  the  Ancient 
Israelites.  In  1831  Dr.  Clarke  established  sev- 
eral schools  in  his  native  province  of  Ulster.  He 
accumulated  a  valuable  library,  including  many 
manuscripts  and  a  small  museum  of  curiosities. 
He  died  of  cholera,  during  a  passing  visit  to  Bays- 
water,  August  26,  1832.  He  is  described  as  five 
feet  nine  inches  in  height,  of  a  large  frame,  his 
limbs  straight  and  well  proportioned,  and  his 
person  unbowed  the  last  hours  of  his  life. 

James  Duchal 

James  Duchal,  D.  D.,  a  Presbyterian  divine, 
was  born  at  or  near  Antrim,  in  1697.  He  studied 
at  the  University  of  Glasgow,  where  he  took  the 
degree  of  M.  A.,  and  became  pastor  of  a  small 
congregation  in  Cambridge.  In  1730  he  accepted 
an  invitation  to  settle  in  Antrim.    After  he  had 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  261 

served  there  for  ten  years,  his  friend  Abernethy, 
then  minister  of  the  dissenting  congregation  in 
Wood  Street,  Dublin,  died,  and  Duchal  was  in- 
duced to  become  his  successor.  Duchal  was  a 
voluminous  writer;  in  addition  to  several  theo- 
logical works  issued  during  his  ministrations,  in 
the  decline  of  life  he  wrote  more  than  700  ser- 
mons, from  which  a  selection  was  made  after  his 
death,  and  published  in  three  volumes.  He  died 
in  1761. 

Francis  Hutcheson 

Francis  Hutcheson,  "the  reviver  of  specu- 
lative philosophy  in  Scotland,"  was  born  August 
8,  1694,  at  Downpatrick,  where  his  father,  John 
Hutcheson,  was  a  minister.  He  studied  theology 
and  followed  his  father's  profession  of  Presby- 
terian divine.  His  "Inquiry  into  the  Original  of 
Our  Ideas  on  Beauty  and  Virtue,"  a  work  which 
made  his  name  widely  known,  introduced  him  to 
the  notice  of  such  men  as  Archbishop  King,  Dr. 
Synge  (Bishop  of  Elphin),  and  Viscount  Moles- 
worth.  In  1728  he  published  his  essay  on  "The 
Passions  and  Affections,"  in  consequence  of 
which  he  was  the  following  year  promoted  to  the 
Chair  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  Glasgow.  His 
next  works  were  text-books  for  the  use  of  his 
classes.  He  died  at  Glasgow  in  1747.  His  "Sys- 
tem of  Moral  Philosophy,"  the  work  on  which 
his  fame  as  an  ethical  writer  depends,  did  not  ap- 
pear until  1755.  It  was  edited  by  his  son,  with 
a  memoir  by  Dr.  Leechman  prefixed. 

John  George  Beresf ord 

John  George  Beresford,  Anglican  Arch- 
bishop of  Armagh,  son  of  the  first  Marquis  of 


262  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Waterford,  was  born  at  Tyrone  House,  Dublin, 
November  22,  1773.  Educated  at  Eton  and  Ox- 
ford, he  entered  the  Church,  where  his  prefer- 
ment was  rapid, — Bishop  of  Cork  and  Ross, 
1805;  transferred  to  Raphoe,  1807;  Clogher, 
1819;  to  the  archbishopric  of  DubHn,  1820,  and 
to  Armagh  in  1822,  "being  the  first  Irishman  that 
was  raised  to  the  primacy  of  Ireland  for  120 
years."  Although  his  published  works  were  con- 
fined to  four  sermons,  he  was  considered  a  dis- 
tinguished prelate.  In  1851  he  was  appointed 
chancellor  of  the  University  of  Dublin.  He  re- 
stored the  Cathedral  of  Armagh,  and  Trinity 
College  is  indebted  to  him  for  the  erection  of 
the  beautiful  campanile  in  the  Library  Square. 
He  died  July  19,  1862,  and  was  succeeded  in  the 
primacy  by  his  cousin,  Marcus  G.  Beresford, 
Bishop  of  Kilmore. 

Nicholas  Barnewall 

Nicholas  Barnewall,  Viscount  Kingsland, 
was  born  April  15,  1668.  The  family  had  been 
ennobled  by  King  Charles  I.,  September  12,  1645, 
for  loyalty  to  his  cause.  Before  Nicholas  was 
of  age  he  married  a  daughter  of  George,  Count 
Hamilton,  by  his  wife,  Frances  Jennings,  after- 
wards married  to  the  Earl  of  Tirconnel.  In  1688 
he  entered  King  James'  Irish  army  as  captain  in 
the  Earl  of  Limerick's  Dragoons.  After  the  de- 
feat of  the  Boyne  he  was  moved  to  Limerick,  and 
being  in  that  city  at  the  time  of  its  surrender, 
was  included  in  the  articles,  and  secured  his  es- 
tates. In  the  first  Irish  Parliament  of  William 
HI.  he  took  the  oath  of  allegiance,  but  upon  de- 
clining to  subscribe  the  declaration  according 
to  the  English  act,  as  contrary  to  his  conscience. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  263 

he  was  obliged  to  withdraw  with  the  other  Cath- 
oHc  Lords.  In  February,  1703,  he  joined  with 
many  Irish  Catholics  in  an  unavailing  petition 
against  the  infraction  of  the  Treaty  of  Limerick. 
He  died  June  14,  1725,  and  was  buried  at  Lusk. 

Alexander  Henry 

Alexander  Henry,  merchant,  was  born  m 
the  North  of  Ireland  in  June,  1766.  His  father 
died  when  he  was  two  years  old  and  his  care  and 
education  devolved  upon  an  elder  brother,  who 
directed  his  studies  with  a  view  of  training  him 
for  one  of  the  professions.  But  preferring  a  mer- 
cantile life,  young  Henry  chose  America  as  the 
most  promising  field,  and  arrived  at  Philadelphia 
in  1738  with  a  stock  of  dry  goods  (which  he  dis- 
posed of)  and  letters  of  introduction  which  aided 
him  in  securing  a  clerkship  at  a  salary  of  $250 
per  annum.  His  industry  so  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  his  employers  that  within  two  months 
a  branch  house  was  opened,  of  which  Henry  was 
made  superintendent.  Going  into  the  commis- 
sion business  a  few  years  later  on  his  own  ac- 
count, he  became  very  successful,  and  in  1807, 
having  accumulated  a  comfortable  fortune,  he 
retired. 

For  a  period  of  nearly  fifty  years  Henry  was 
a  liberal  patron  of  the  public  institutions  of  Phil- 
adelphia. In  1817  he  was  one  of  the  founders 
and  first  president  of  the  Philadelphia  Sunday 
and  Adult  School,  which  was  merged  into  the 
American  Sunday  School  Union  in  1824,  Henr}^ 
continuing  its  president  until  his  death.  He  was 
also  president  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  president  of  the  House  of 
Refuge,  and  of  the  Magdalen  Society.    He  died 


264  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

at  Philadelphia,  August  13,  1847.  His  nephew, 
Alexander  Henry,  was  a  prominent  merchant  of 
Manchester,  England.  His  son,  Thomas  C. 
Henry,  born  in  1790,  studied  theology  at  Prince- 
ton College  and  became  pastor  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Charleston,  S.  C,  where 
he  died  October  24,  1827.  He  was  the  author  of 
"Inquiry  into  the  Consistency  of  Popular  Amuse- 
ments with  a  Profession  of  Christianity,"  1825; 
"Letters  to  an  Anxious  Inquirer,"  1828;  and 
"Moral  Etchings  from  the  Religious  World," 
1828,  His  grandson  was  mayor  of  Philadelphia 
in  1864. 

Thomas  Blood 

Thomas  Blood,  a  daring  adventurer,  com- 
monly called  Colonel  Blood,  was  born  in  Ire- 
land, about  1628,  served  for  a  time  as  lieutenant 
in  the  parliamentary  army.  After  the  restoration 
of  Charles  II.,  he  became  the  leader  of  some  dis- 
contented parliamentary  officers  in  a  conspiracy 
to  surprise  Dublin  Castle  and  seize  the  Duke  of 
Ormond,  who  was  then  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Ire- 
land. Just  before  carrying  out  the  bold  plan,  the 
plot  was  discovered,  but  Blood  managed  to  make 
his  escape,  cleverly  concealing  his  identity  under 
various  disguises. 

After  various  adventures  in  Ireland  and  on 
the  continent,  he  finally  settled  in  England,  pass- 
ing as  a  physician  under  an  assumed  name.  He 
fought  with  the  Scottish  Covenanters  in  1666 
and  afterwards  passed  himself  off  as  a  Quaker. 
He  now  entered  upon  a  daring  scheme  to  capture 
his  old  enemy,  the  Duke  of  Ormond.  With  five 
accomplices  or  confederates,  he  seized  that  noble- 
man in  his  coach  one  night  in  1670,  in  the  very 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  265 

heart  of  London,  and  carried  him  off.  The  popu- 
lace, however,  was  aroused  and  the  duke  rescued, 
but  Blood  escaped. 

His  next  design  was  to  steal  the  crown  jew- 
els. Disguised  as  a  clergyman,  he  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  the  keeper  of  the  crown  and  jewels 
at  the  Tower  of  London,  where  they  were  care- 
fully guarded.  When,  by  repeated  visits,  he 
gained  the  keeper's  confidence,  he  appeared 
one  day  with  two  associates,  under  the  plea 
of  wishing  to  see  the  royal  crown.  On  being 
admitted,  they  threw  a  cloak  over  the  head 
of  the  keeper,  gagged  him  and  carried  away  the 
crown;  but  they  were,  however,  captured  and 
brought  to  trial.  King  Charles  attended  the 
examination,  and  Blood,  by  craft,  flattery  and 
threats  of  vengeance  by  his  associates,  so  worked 
on  the  fears  and  vanity  of  the  King  that  the  lat- 
ter not  only  pardoned  Blood,  but  granted  him  a 
handsome  yearly  pension;  and  he  was  *'gener- 
ally  received  in  such  royal  favor  that  the  whole 
affair  became  a  public  scandal."  For  a  time  ac- 
tually a  favorite  at  court,  Blood  finally  fell  into 
disgrace  and  died  in  obscurity  at  Westminster, 
August  24,  1680. 

Gustavus  Hamilton 

Gustavus  Hamilton,  Viscount  Boyne,  was 
born  in  1639,  and  obtained  a  commission  in  the 
army  towards  the  end  of  Charles  II. 's  reign.  At 
the  commencement  of  the  war  of  1689-91,  the 
Protestants  of  Coleraine  entrusted  him  with  the 
defense  of  their  town.  He  was  ultimately  forced 
to  evacuate  it  and  fall  back  on  Enniskillen,  and 
organized  those  regiments  of  horse  and  foot 
afterwards   known   as    the   Enniskilleners, — the 


266  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

forerunners  of  the  present  Inniskilling  regiments. 
He  defeated  Lord  Galmoy  in  his  attack  on  Crom 
Castle,  and  in  the  spring  of  1689  was  successful 
in  several  engagements  with  the  Catholic  forces. 
In  July  his  army  is  said  to  have  numbered  seven- 
teen troops  of  light  horse,  thirty  companies  of 
foot,  and  a  few  very  ill-armed  troops  of  heavy 
dragoons.  Later  on,  at  the  head  of  his  Ennis- 
killeners,  he  defeated  General  MacCarthy  at 
Newtownbutler. 

He  commanded  a  regiment  at  the  battle  of 
the  Boyne,  and  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
after  operations  of  the  war,  heading  the  troops 
in  the  successful  attack  on  Athlone  in  169L  and 
being  afterwards  made  governor  of  the  town. 
When  peace  was  concluded  he  received  an  ample 
share  of  the  forfeited  estates,  and  was  made 
privy-councillor  and  brigadier-general.  For  his 
bravery  afterwards  at  the  siege  of  Vigo,  he  was 
presented  with  a  service  of  plate  by  Queen  Anne, 
and  George  I.  raised  him  to  the  peerage  as  Vis- 
count Boyne.    He  died  September  16,  1723. 

Henry  Johnson 

Sir  Henry  Johnson,  baronet,  G.  C.  B.,  gen- 
eral, was  born  in  Dublin  in  1748,  entered  the 
army  in  1761,  and  rose  through  the  several 
grades — captain,  1763;  lieutenant-colonel,  1778; 
colonel,  1782;  major-general,  1793;  general, 
1808.  He  commanded  a  battalion  of  Irish  light 
infantry  in  the  American  Revolutionary  war,  and 
was  severely  wounded;  and  while  in  command 
at  Stony  Point  was  surprised  by  General  Wayne 
on  the  night  of  July  15,  1779,  and  made  prisoner 
with  his  whole  force.  In  1782  he  married  an 
American  lady,  and  returned  to  England  after 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  267 

the  surrender  of  Yorktown.  During  the  insur- 
rection of  1798  in  Ireland,  he  commanded  a  divi- 
sion of  the  army  in  County  Wexford,  and  on  the 
5th  of  June  defended  New  Ross. 

It  was  attacked  early  in  the  morning  of  that 
day  by  an  overwhelming  body  of  insurgents 
tmder  Bagenal  Harvey,  who  were  at  first  success- 
ful, driving  most  of  General  Johnson's  troops  out 
of  the  town,  but,  not  following  up  their  success, 
were  in  the  afternoon  obliged  to  retreat.  Mus- 
grave  places  the  insurgents'  loss  at  2,500,  while 
Johnson's  casualties  numbered  altogether  only 
227.  In  the  engagement  General  Johnson  dis- 
played uncommon  bravery,  and  had  two  horses 
shot  under  him.  He  received  a  baronetcy  in  1818, 
and  died  March  18,  1835,  being  succeeded  in  the 
baronetcy  by  his  son,  a  distinguished  officer  in 
the  Peninsular  War,  who  survived  until  June 
27,  1860. 

Edward  Blakeney 

Sir  Edward  Blakeney,  soldier,  G.  C.  B.,  son 
of  the  member  of  Parliament  for  Athenry  before 
the  Legislative  Union,  was  born  in  1778.  He 
entered  the  army  when  but  sixteen,  as  cornet  in 
a  dragoon  regiment,  and  saw  much  active  service 
in  Holland,  Nova  Scotia,  the  West  Indies,  at 
Copenhagen,  and  elsewhere.  During  the  Penin- 
sular War,  he  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Busaco, 
in  the  sieges  of  Ciudad  Rodrigo  and  Badajoz, 
and  in  the  battles  of  Albuera,  Vittoria,  and  the 
Pyrenees.  In  1814  he  was  employed  in  the  ex- 
pedition against  New  Orleans.  He  acted  as 
commander-in-chief  in  Ireland  from  1832  to  1855, 
during  which  time  he  was  a  privy-councillor.  He 
was  appointed  governor  of  Chelsea  Hospital  in 


268  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

1856,  and  became  a  field  marshal  in  1862.     He 
died  August  2,  1868. 

William  Francis  Butler 

Sir  William  Francis  Butler,  soldier,  was 
born  in  Suirville,  County  Tipperary,  October  31, 
1838.  His  early  education  was  received  at  the 
Jesuit  College,  Tullabeg,  Kings  County,  and 
afterwards  in  Dublin.  After  a  course  of  study 
at  the  Royal  Military  College,  Sandhurst,  he  en- 
tered the  69th  regiment,  September  17,  1858,  as 
ensign,  served  in  the  East  and  in  Canada,  and 
in  November,  1863,  was  promoted  lieutenant. 
After  serving  on  the  Canadian  frontier  survey 
and  in  the  Red  River  expedition  under  Colonel 
Wolseley,  he  acted  as  Special  Commissioner  to 
the  Indian  tribes  of  the  Saskatchewan  River, 
1870-71,  and  was  made  a  captain  in  1872.  He 
next  proceeded  to  Ashanti  with  Sir  Garnet 
Wolseley,  where  he  was  employed  as  a  Special 
Commissioner  in  collecting  the  West  Akim  na- 
tive forces  for  service.  For  his  tact  in  this  mis- 
sion he  was  several  times  mentioned  in  des- 
patches and  was  thanked  by  the  House  of  Lords 
through  the  Duke  of  Cambridge,  and  Butler  was 
promoted  major,  April  1,  1874,  and  made  a  C.  B. 

In  1875  he  was  sent  to  Natal  as  a  special 
service  officer,  and  on  his  arrival  proceeded  to 
Bloemfontein  on  a  confidential  mission  at  a  time 
when  the  Zulus  were  restless  and  the  Boers  un- 
easy. He  assisted  Sir  George  Colley  to  draft  a 
bill  for  the  better  government  of  the  natives,  and 
was  largely  responsible  in  smoothing  subsequent 
difficulties  with  the  Zulus.  Returning  to  Eng- 
land for  a  post  in  the  army,  he  again  sailed  for 
South  Africa  in  1879,  served  in  the  Zulu  war  as 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  269 

assistant  -  adjutant  and  quartermaster  -  general, 
and  for  his  services  was  given  the  brevet  of  Heu- 
tenant-colonel,  April  21,  1880.  He  returned  to 
England  in  the  latter  year,  and  in  1882  w^ent  to 
Egypt  v^ith  the  expedition  sent  against  Arabi 
Pasha.  He  was  present  at  the  battles  of  El  Mag- 
far,  Tel-el-Mahuta,  Kassassin,  and  Tel-el-Kebir, 
where  his  brilliant  service  was  brought  to  the 
notice  of  the  government  by  Lord  Wolseley,  and 
he  was  promoted  colonel,  November  18,  1882, 
and  aide-de-camp  to  Queen  Victoria.  In  the  ad- 
vance to  the  relief  of  General  Gordon  at  Khar- 
tum, Colonel  Butler  was  assigned  the  task  of 
organizing  a  boat  service  which  would  surmount 
the  difficulties  of  transportation  over  the  Nile 
cataracts. 

In  a  short  space  of  time  and  in  the  face  of 
many  difficulties  he  had  400  Canadian  pattern 
boats  despatched  to  Egypt,  together  with  a  band 
of  Indians  who  had  worked  the  boat  service  on 
the  Red  River.  In  command  of  this  service  he 
gained  world-wide  renown  by  the  ingenuity  and 
resource  with  which  he  passed  hundreds  of  boats 
over  the  cataracts.  Later  he  commanded  the  ad- 
vance guard  of  the  river  column  and  discovered 
the  enemy  in  position  on  the  ridges  of  Kirbekan. 
General  Earle,  in  command  of  the  British  forces, 
proposed  a  frontal  attack,  but  Colonel  Butler, 
having  reconnoitred  the  enemy's  position  very 
closely,  and  believing  the  ground  too  broken  to 
allow  a  direct  assault,  an  attack  on  the  left  flank 
was  made  at  his  instigation,  which  resulted  in 
the  victory  of  Kirbekan. 

On  his  return  from  Egypt,  in  1893,  he  was 
given  command  of  the  Second  Brigade  at  Alder- 
shot  as  a  major-general.  The  grant  of  a  Dis- 
tinguished Service  Reward  was  made  to  him  in 


270  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

1898,  and  after  a  period  in  command  of  the  south- 
eastern district,  he  was  sent  to  South  Africa, 
with  the  rank  of  lieutenant-general,  to  take  up 
the  reins  of  military  government  after  the  death 
of  General  Goodenough.  In  1899  he  was  placed 
in  charge  of  the  Cape,  with  the  temporary  powers 
of  high  commissioner.  He  had  formed  strong 
opinions  of  the  character  of  the  military  prepara- 
tions being  made  by  the  Boers,  but  his  estimate 
of  their  strength  did  not  find  acceptance  in  South 
Africa  or  in  England.  He  sided  with  the  Afri- 
kander party,  having  convinced  himself  that  the 
English  population  of  the  Transvaal  had  little 
cause  for  grievance.  When  a  petition  for  inter- 
vention was  placed  before  him  by  the  Uitlanders, 
he  rejected  it  and  expressed  his  disapproval  of 
any  agitation.  At  Grahamstown  he  delivered  a 
speech  in  which  he  said:  "South  Africa  does  not 
need  surgical  operations;  it  needs,  peace,  prog- 
ress, and  development."  Considering  this  utter- 
ance a  political  mistake,  he  was  superseded  in  the 
military  command  in  South  Africa,  and  in  1900 
was  placed  in  command  at  Aldershot. 

After  he  had  placed  the  garrison  in  a  sound 
condition,  he  returned  to  the  Western  district, 
and  was  placed  on  the  retired  list,  October  31, 
1905.  After  his  retirement  General  Butler  en- 
joyed the  quiet  life  in  his  native  county  of  Tip- 
perary,  where  he  won  the  esteem  of  all  classes. 
He  devoted  himself  to  religious  and  educational 
matters,  and  in  1907  was  appointed  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  National  Education.  His  polit- 
ical views  were  strongly  Nationalist,  and  he  was 
an  active  member  of  the  Catholic  Truth  Society, 
under  whose  auspices  he  delivered  several  strik- 
ing addresses. 

He  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  preservation 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  271 

of  the  Irish  language  and  beHeved  strongly  in  the 
necessity  of  a  great  upbuilding  of  national  char- 
acter and  self-reliance  among  his  fellow-country- 
men. He  lived  to  see  his  views  take  deep  root. 
He  married  Elizabeth  Thompson,  the  painter  of 
"The  Roll  Call"  and  other  battle  scenes.  Gen- 
eral Butler  won  considerable  reputation  as  a  lit- 
terateur, and  his  publications  include:  "The 
Great  Lone  Land,"  1872;  "The  Cam.paign  of  the 
Cataracts,"  1887;  "Charles  George  Gordon," 
1889;  "Life  of  Sir  George  Pomeroy  Colley," 
1889;  and  "Sir  Charles  Napier,"  1890.  He  died 
at  his  residence  in  County  Tipperary,  June  7, 
1910. 

John  C.  Douglas 

John  C.  Douglas,  M.  D.,  a  distinguished  ob- 
stetrician, was  born  at  Lurgan,  June  14,  1778. 
Having  passed  through  the  College  of  Surgeons 
in  1800,  he  acted  for  a  time  as  surgeon  to  a  militia 
regiment,  in  1803  took  the  degree  of  M.  D.  at  St. 
Andrew's,  and  in  1808  commenced  practice  in 
Dublin,  where  he  soon  attained  a  prominent  po- 
sition. The  Journal  of  Medical  Science  declares 
that  his  published  treatises,  "along  with  Dr. 
Clarke's  reports  and  papers,  laid  the  foundation 
of  the  high  repute  of  Dublin  as  a  school  of  ob- 
stetrics." He  received  important  foreign  ac- 
knowledgments of  his  worth,  was  for  a  time 
President  of  the  King  and  Queen's  College  of 
Physicians  in  Ireland,  and  in  1832  was  elected 
an  honorarv  fellow.  He  died  of  apoplexy,  No- 
vember 20,^850. 

Richard  Helsham 

Richard  Helsham,  M.  D.,  an  emtinent  Dublin 
physician,  Professor  of  Phygic  and  Natural  Phi- 


272  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

losophy  in  the  University  of  Dublin  in  the  first 
half  of  the  18th  century.  He  became  a  Fellow 
of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  in  1704,  a  Senior  Fel- 
low in  1714;  he  resigned  in  1730,  and  was  ap- 
pointed Regius  Professor  of  Physic  in  1733.  His 
course  of  "Lectures  on  Natural  Philosophy"  was 
much  esteemed,  and  have  been  more  than  once 
reprinted.  He  was  Swift's  intimate  friend  and 
medical  adviser.  In  a  letter  of  July  12,  1735, 
Swift  writes  of  him  as  "the  most  eminent  physi- 
cian of  this  citv  and  kingdom."  He  died  August 
1,  1738. 

William  Henry  Harvey 

William  Henry  Harvey,  M.  D.,  botanist,  was 
born  at  Limerick,  February  5,  1811.  His  atten- 
tion was  turned  to  flowers  when  quite  a  child, 
and  he  early  developed  a  passionate  love  for  the 
study  of  nature.  He  was  educated  at  a  Ballitore 
school,  and  his  youth  was  passed  in  business  pur- 
suits in  Limerick.  From  1835  to  1841  he  held 
the  position  of  Colonial  Treasurer  at  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  where  he  had  ample  opportunities 
of  studying  the  flora  of  South  Africa,  and  he  soon 
acquired  a  European  reputation  as  a  careful  and 
laborious  student.  Shortly  after  his  return  he 
was  appointed  Professor  of  Botany  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Dublin.  He  devoted  himself  specially 
to  algae,  and  in  pursuit  of  this  department  of 
botany  visited  the  United  States,  and  in  1853 
undertook  a  voyage  round  the  world  for  the  pur- 
pose of  collecting  specimens. 

His  "Seaside  Book,"  his  "Thesaurus  Capen- 
sis,"  "Flora  Capensis"  and  "Phycologia  Britan- 
nica,"  embellished  with  illustrations  from  his 
pencil,  are  among  the  best  known  of  his  numer- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  273 

ous  works.  The  ''Smithsonian  Contributions  to 
Knowledge"  contain  some  elaborate  treatises  by 
him  on  American  algae.  He  belonged  to  many 
of  the  learned  societies  of  Europe.  Originally 
a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  he  joined 
the  Established  Church.  He  was  the  intimate 
friend  of  Dr.  Hooker.  Dr.  Harvey  died  of  con- 
sumption, May  15,  1866,  at  Torquay,  where  he 
was  buried  by  his  special  desire.  He  was  emi- 
nently remarkable  for  the  spirituality  and  amia- 
bility of  his  disposition.  Besides  his  botanical 
works  he  was  the  author  of  some  poems  pub- 
lished in  his  youth,  and  of  "Charles  and  Josiah, 
or  Friendly  Conversations  Between  a  Church- 
man and  a  Quaker,"  published  in  Dublin  in  1862. 


Patrick  Browne 

Patrick  Browne,  M.  D.,  naturalist  and  au- 
thor, was  born  at  Woodstock,  County  Mayo,  in 
1720.  While  young  he  was  sent  to  the  West 
India  Islands,  but  on  account  of  ill-health,  re- 
turned to  Europe.  He  resided  some  years  at 
Paris,  and  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  medi- 
cine, graduating  as  M.  D.  at  Leyden,  Holland, 
where  he  became  acquainted  with  Linnaeus  and 
other  eminent  naturalists. 

After  two  years'  practice  of  his  profession 
in  London,  he  returned  to  the  West  Indies  and 
made  a  collection  of  the  fauna  and  flora  of  the 
islands.  In  1755  he  published  in  London  a  new 
map  of  Jamaica  and  the  following  year  he 
brought  out  his  "Civil  and  Natural  History  of 
Jamaica."  He  made  in  all  six  visits  to  the  West 
Indies.  The  latter  part  of  his  life  was  passed 
in  Mayo,  where  he  died,  August  29,  1790,  and 


274  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

was  buried  at  Crossboyne.    In  1774  appeared  his 
"Catalogues  of  the  Birds  and  Kishes  of  Ireland." 

William  H.  Fitton 

William  Henry  Fitton,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S.,  an 
eminent  geologist,  was  born  in  Dublin,  January, 
1780.  At  Trinity  College  he  acquired  his  de- 
gree of  B.  A.  in  1799.  During  a  residence  in 
Edinburgh  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Syd- 
ney Smith,  Jeffrey,  Lord  Brougham  and  other 
eminent  men,  and  in  1809  he  removed  to  London. 
In  1811  he  began  to  write  geological  articles,  the 
first  being  on  the  geological  structure  of  the 
neighborhood  of  Dublin.  In  1812  he  settled  as 
a  physician  at  Northampton,  occasionally  con- 
tributing articles  to  the  Edinburgh  Review  on 
his  favorite  study.  As  an  original  observer,  he 
worked  hard  from  1824  to  1836,  developing  the 
true  order  of  the  secondary  strata  of  England 
and  France.  He  was  President  of  the  Geological 
Society,  and  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  and  other 
scientific  societies.  He  died  in  London,  May  13, 
1861. 

William  Brouncker 

William  Brouncker,  Viscount  Castlelyons, 
mathematician,  was  born  at  Castlelyons,  County 
Cork,  in  1620.  His  father  was  President  of  Mun- 
ster,  and  was  made  a  viscount  in  1645.  For  his 
adherence  to  the  Stuarts  he  was,  at  the  restora- 
tion, appointed  Chancellor  to  the  Queen,  Lord 
of  the  Admiralty,  and  Master  of  St.  Catherine's 
Hospital,  in  London.  He  was  the  first  President 
of  the  Royal  Society,  an  ofiice  which  he  retained 
for  fifteen  years.     Among  other  mathematical 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  275 

works,  he  published  ''Continued  Fractions"  and 
''The  Quadrature  of  a  Portion  of  the  Equilateral 
Hyperbola."  In  1653  he  published  a  translation 
of  Descartes'  "Music  Compendium,"  enriched 
with  observations  which  show  that  he  was  deeply 
skilled  in  the  theory  of  music.  He  died  at  West- 
minster, April  5,  1684. 

Edward  Hincks 

Edward  Hincks,  D.  D.,  philologist,  was  born 
in  Cork,  August,  1792.  His  father,  T.  D.  Hincks 
(born  in  1767,  died  in  1857),  a  Presbyterian  min- 
ister, was  a  well-known  orientalist.  After  a  care- 
ful training  under  his  father,  Edward  entered 
Trinity  College,  Dublin,  became  scholar  in  1810, 
and  obtained  a  fellowship  in  1813,  having  as  an 
opponent  the  Rev.  Thomas  R.  Robinson.  He 
retired  on  the  College  living  of  Ardtrea  in  1819, 
and  in  1826  exchanged  it  for  that  of  Killileagh, 
which  he  held  until  his  death.  The  fact  of  his 
not  having  received  any  other  promotion,  not- 
withstanding his  European  reputation  and  high 
personal  character,  has  been  ascribed  to  the 
earnestness  with  which  he  advocated  a  reform 
in  the  Irish  Established  Church,  and  a  larger  and 
more  liberal  system  of  education.  He  was  an 
excellent  Oriental  scholar,  and  published  a  He- 
brew grammar.  But  it  was  in  the  field  of  Egyp- 
tian and  Assyrian  translation  that  his  reputation 
chiefly  rests.  Layard  remarks:  "It  is  to  Dr. 
Hincks  we  owe  the  determination  of  the  numer- 
als, the  name  of  Sennacherib  on  the  monuments 
of  Kouyunjik  and  of  Nebuchadnezzar  on  the 
bricks  of  Babylon — three  very  important  and 
valuable  discoveries." 

He  threw  a  flood  of  light  on  the  grammar 


276  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

of  the  language,  on  cuneiform  writings  generally, 
and  in  various  ways  did  much  to  smooth  the 
path  for  subsequent  investigators.  His  views 
have  not  all  met  with  acceptance;  but  concern- 
ing the  value  of  his  researches  and  the  soundness 
of  his  judgment,  there  is  no  difference  of  opinion. 
Most  of  his  investigations  were  published  in  the 
^'Transactions  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy."  In 
1854  he  published  a  "Report  to  the  Trustees  of 
the  British  Museum  respecting  certain  Cylinders 
and  Terra-cotta  Tablets,  with  Cuneiform  In- 
scriptions," and  in  1863  a  "Letter  on  the  Poly- 
phony of  the  Assyrio-Babylonian  Cuneiform 
writing."  He  died  December  3,  1866.  His 
brother,  Francis  Hincks,  C.  B.,  "may  be  said  to 
have  secured  for  Canada  the  independence  she 
possesses." 

Patrick  Kennedy 

Patrick  Kennedy  was  born  in  County  Wex- 
ford early  in  1801.  In  1823,  although  a  Catholic, 
he  came  to  Dublin  as  assistant  at  the  Protestant 
Training  School,  Kildare  Place.  After  a  few 
years  he  established  the  small  circulating  library 
and  bookshop  in  Anglesea  Street  where  he  spent 
the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  was  a  man  of  abil- 
ity, and  contributed  interesting  articles  to  the 
pages  of  the  University  Magazine.  The  best  of 
these,  "Legends  of  the  Irish  Celts,"  "Tales  of  the 
Duffrey"  and  "Banks  of  the  Boro,"  were  after- 
wards published  separately.  In  the  graphic  de- 
lineation of  Irish  rural  life,  as  he  experienced  it 
when  a  boy  in  County  Wexford,  he  has  seldom 
been  surpassed.  His  works  are  singularly  pure, 
and  he  curtailed  his  prospects  in  trade  by  declin- 
ing to  lend  or  deal  in  books  that  he  considered 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  277 

of  an  objectionable  tendency.  For  many  years 
the  committees  of  the  Hibernian  Temperance 
Association  and  kindred  bodies  were  held  at  his 
house.  Kennedy  was  widely  known  and  re- 
spected by  the  literary  people  of  Dublin.  He 
died  March  28,  1873,  and  was  buried  at  Glas- 
nevin. 

John  Keegan 

John  Keegan,  the  author  of  several  poems 
of  great  beauty,  was  born  in  1809,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Nore,  in  Queens  County.  He  received 
a  hedge-school  education,  and  was  all  through 
life  essentially  a  man  of  the  people.  In  a  short 
notice  in  the  Irishman  of  October,  1876,  it  is  re- 
marked: "All  the  different  phases  of  Irish  pas- 
sion— the  fierce  outbursts  of  anger — the  mut- 
tered tone  of  contempt — all  the  deep  and  heart- 
rending sorrow  of  the  people — John  Keegan  was 
master  of  all!  Not  a  side  of  the  Irish  character 
was  there  that  he  did  not  probe  and  understand. 
From  the  sweet  mood  of  love  murmured  in  the 
eventide  over  the  milk-pail,  to  the  violent  words 
of  animosity  at  the  faction  fight,  there  was  not 
a  page  of  the  Irish  character  that  escaped  the 
keen  eye  of  Keegan."  Several  of  his  poems  will 
be  found  in  Hays'  "Ballads  of  Ireland":  "Caoch 
the  Piper"  and  ".The  Dark  Girl  at  the  Holy 
Well"  are  among  the  best.  Keegan  died  in 
1849. 

Richard  Cox 

Sir  Richard  Cox  was  born  at  Bandon,  Coun- 
ty Cork,  March  25,  1650.  His  grandfather,  Mi- 
chael Cox,  was  one  of  the  many  English  ad- 
venturers who  went  to  Ireland  in  the  reign  of 


278  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

James  I.  After  being  called  to  the  bar,  Richard 
was  made  recorder  of  Kinsale  by  Sir  Richard 
Southwell  in  1685.  The  troubles  which  followed 
in  Ireland  upon  the  accession  of  James  II  alarmed 
Cox,  and  he  removed  with  his  family  to  Bristol. 
Here  he  wrote  ''Hibernia  Anglicana."  Upon  the 
arrival  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  in  England,  Cox, 
who  had  published  a  pamphlet  in  favor  of  the 
Revolution,  was  made  under  secretary  of  state, 
and  shortly  after  went  to  Ireland  as  secretary. 
He  was  afterwards  made  recorder  of  Waterford, 
and  then  a  justice  of  the  common  pleas,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1690;  and  in  a  few  months  after  he  was 
appointed  military  governor  of  Cork.  In  1692 
he  was  knighted  by  Lord  Sidney,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
philosophical  society,  and  also  one  of  the  com- 
missioners of  forfeited  estates  in  Ireland. 

In  1700  he  was  promoted  to  the  chief  justice- 
ship of  the  common  pleas,  and  to  a  seat  in  the 
privy  council.  In  1703  he  was  appointed  Lord 
Chancellor  of  Ireland.  In  1705  Cox  with  Lord 
Cutts,  was  appointed  lord  justice  during  the  ab- 
sence of  the  Duke  of  Ormond  in  England.  The 
duke  was  recalled  in  1707,  and  the  Earl  of  Pem- 
broke was  appointed  his  successor.  Cox  soon 
found  himself  obliged  to  resign  the  seals,  and 
meet  the  active  enmity  of  those  to  whom  his 
politics  had  made  him  obnoxious.  He  died  May 
3,  1733,  leaving  a  son  and  a  daughter.  His  writ- 
ings and  actions  were  void  of  any  broad-minded 
views,  and  it  is  said  he  availed  himself  of  his 
position  to  imprison  illegally  for  one  year  in 
Newgate,  Hugh  MacCurtin,  an  Irish  histori- 
ographer, for  having  published  a  treatise  in  1717 
exposing  the  unfounded  statements  which  were 
promulgated  in  his  "Hibernia  Anglicana"  rela- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  279 

tive  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  Irish  pre- 
vious to  the  EngHsh  invasion. 


Edward  King 

Edward  King,  Viscount  Kingsborough,  au- 
thor of  "The  Antiquities  of  Mexico,"  was  born 
in  County  Cork  in  1795.  With  the  exception  of 
a  parhamentary  career  of  six  years,  which  he 
voluntarily  abandoned,  his  life  was  devoted  to 
the  study  of  Mexican  antiquities.  This  passion 
was  acquired  when  a  student  at  Oxford,  where 
a  Mexican  MS.  in  the  Bodleian  Library  fired  his 
imagination.  His  magnificent  work,  replete  with 
illustrations,  was  given  to  the  world  in  1831,  in 
seven  volumes,  imperial  folio,  price  £210.  Two 
additional  volumes  appeared  after  his  death.  The 
book  cost  him  upwards  of  £32,000,  and  his  life: 
for,  oppressed  with  debt,  he  was  arrested  at  the 
suit  of  a  paper  manufacturer,  and  lodged  in  the 
debtors'  prison,  Dublin,  where  he  died  of  typhoid 
fever,  February  27,  1837. 

Had  he  lived  he  would  within  a  year  have 
become  Earl  of  Kingston,  with  a  fortune  of  £40,- 
000  a  year.  William  H.  Prescott,  the  historian 
of  Mexico,  says:  "The  drift  of  Lord  Kingsbor- 
ough's  speculations  is  to  establish  the  coloniza- 
tion of  Mexico  by  the  Israelites.  To  this  the 
whole  battery  of  his  logic  and  learning  is  di- 
rected. For  this,  hieroglyphics  are  unriddled, 
manuscripts  compared,  monuments  delineated. 
.  .  .  By  this  munificent  undertaking,  which 
no  government,  probably,  would  have,  and  few 
individuals  could  have,  executed,  he  has  entitled 
himself  to  the  lasting  gratitude  of  every  friend 
of  science." 


28o  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

William  Haliday 

William  Haliday,  a  promising  Irish  scholar, 
the  son  of  a  Dublin  tradesman,  was  born  about 
1788.  He  studied  Irish  diligently,  and  produced 
a  grammar  in  his  nineteenth  year.  He  was  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  Gaelic  Society,  and  project- 
ed a  translation  of  Keating's  "History  of  Ire- 
land" with  the  Irish  text  and  memoir  of  the  au- 
thor, only  one  volume  of  which  (Dublin,  1811) 
had  appeared  at  the  time  of  his  death.  Edward 
O'Reilly,  in  the  preface  of  his  "Irish  Dictionary" 
(1821),  acknowledges  in  warm  terms  his  obliga- 
tions to  him.  The  inscription  on  his  tomb  in 
Dundrum  churchyard,  County  Dublin,  was  writ- 
ten by  his  friend.  Dr.  Lanigan.  He  is  thus 
spoken  of  in  the  "Transactions  of  the  Royal 
Irish  Academy,"  Volume  XV:  "Had  this  young 
gentleman  lived  he  would  most  probably  have 
achieved  more  for  the  ancient  literature  of  Ire- 
land than  any  other  individual  of  his  time.  His 
early  display  of  talents,  and  deep  knowledge  of 
the  Greek,  Latin,  and  some  of  the  Oriental  lan- 
guages, joined  with  unwearied  antiquarian  re- 
search and  an  enthusiastic  zeal  for  devoting  his 
talents  to  the  service  of  his  country,  would  have 
rendered  him  one  of  its  brightest  literary  orna- 
ments."    He  died  October  26,  1812. 


Peter  Finnerty 

Peter  Finnerty,  one  of  the  ablest  reporters 
of  his  time,  was  born  at  Loughrea,  in  1766.  At 
an  early  age  he  sought  his  fortune  in  Dublin, 
and  became  a  printer.  In  1797  he  was  printer 
and  editor  of  The  Press,  the  organ  of  the  United 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  281 

Irishmen,  to  which  both  Curran  and  Moore  are 
said  to  have  contributed.  December  22,  1797, 
he  was  tried  for  a  libel  on  the  government  con- 
cerning the  trial  and  execution  of  Orr,  and,  re- 
fusing to  disclose  the  name  of  the  author,  was 
sentenced  to  stand  in  the  pillory,  pay  a  fine,  and 
suffer  imprisonment  for  two  years.  Arthur 
O'Connor,  Lord  Edward  FitzGerald,  and  others 
of  his  party,  attended  him  at  the  pillory  in  Green 
Street. 

At  the  expiration  of  the  sentence  he  removed 
to  London,  and  procured  an  engagement  as  a  re- 
porter on  the  Morning  Chronicle.  He  sailed  as 
an  army  reporter  with  the  Walcheren  expedi- 
tion in  1809.  Two  years  afterwards  he  was  com- 
mitted to  Lincoln  jail  for  eighteen  months,  for  a 
libel  on  Lord  Castlereagh.  In  the  course  of  his 
defense  on  his  trial,  he  made  a  false  quantity  in 
a  Latin  quotation,  and  was  set  right  by  Lord 
Ellenborough,  whereupon  he  rejoined:  "Pro- 
nounce it  as  you  like,  my  lord;  isn't  the  English 
of  it  the  same?"  He  memorialized  the  House  of 
Commons  against  the  treatment  he  received,  and 
in  the  several  discussions  on  the  subject  he  was 
highly  spoken  of  by  Brougham,  Romilly,  Bur- 
dett  and  Whitbread.  He  died  at  Westminster, 
May  11,  1822. 

Dorothea  Jordan 

Dorothea  Jordan,  a  distinguished  actress, 
was  born  near  Waterford,  in  1762.  Her  maiden 
name  was  Bland.  When  but  sixteen  she  went 
on  the  stage,  appearing  in  Dublin  in  Daly's  com- 
pany under  the  assumed  name  of  Miss  Francis, 
so  as  not  to  hurt  the  susceptibilities  of  her 
father's  relatives.     The  charms  of  her  manner, 


282  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

her  graceful  figure,  her  talents,  and  her  voice, 
captivated  the  public,  and  it  was  not  long  before 
she  came  to  be  acknowledged  one  of  the  foremost 
British  actresses.  She  appeared  in  London  in 
October,  1785,  as  Mrs.  Johnson.  Hazlitt,  in  his 
criticisms  of  the  stage,  writes:  "Her  face,  her 
tones,  her  manner  were  irresistible;  her  smile 
had  the  efifect  of  sunshine,  and  her  laugh  did  one 
good  to  hear  it;  her  voice  was  eloquence  itself — 
it  seemed  as  if  her  heart  was  always  at  her 
mouth.  She  was  all  gaiety,  openness,  and  good 
nature;  she  rioted  in  her  fine  animal  spirits,  and 
gave  more  pleasure  than  any  other  actress,  be- 
cause she  had  the  greatest  spirit  of  enjoyment 
in  herself." 

In  1790  she  formed  a  liaison  with  the  Duke 
of  Clarence  (afterwards  King  William  IV.),  and 
for  twenty  years,  it  is  said,  they  lived  peacefully 
together.  About  1811,  "partly  in  consequence 
of  her  extravagance,"  a  separation  took  place, 
and  an  annuity  of  £4,400  was  secured  to  her 
upon  certain  conditions.  In  August,  1815,  she 
was  obliged  to  fly  to  France  from  her  creditors, 
and  at  Versailles,  under  the  name  of  Johnson,  in 
the  greatest  privacy,  she  awaited  in  vain  some 
settlement  of  her  affairs.  She  died  at  St.  Cloud, 
July  3,  1816.  Sir  Jonah  Barrington  bears  testi- 
mony to  Mrs.  Jordan's  disposition  and  accom- 
plishments. She  had  nine  children  by  the  Duke 
of  Clarence;  these  were  granted  the  titles  and 
precedency  of  the  younger  issue  of  a  marquis. 
The  sons  were  well  provided  for  in  the  army,  the 
navy,  or  the  established  church;  the  eldest  was 
created  Viscount  FitzClarence,  and  eventually 
Earl  of  Munster,  while  the  daughters  made  bril- 
liant marriages.  Aubrey  FitzClarence  succeeded 
his  brother  as  fourth  Earl  of  Munster  in  1902. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  283 

Thomas  Sheridan 

Thomas  Sheridan,  son  of  Thomas  Sheridan, 
D.  D.,  was  born  in  Ouilca,  County  Cavan,  in  1721. 
He  was  educated  under  his  father,  and  next  at 
Westminster  School,  where  he  became  a  king's 
scholar;  but  not  being  able  to  go  to  Oxford  or 
Cambridge,  he  returned  to  Dublin,  where  he 
entered  Trinity  College,  and  took  his  degree  in 
1739.  After  this  he  went  on  the  stage,  and  as  a 
tragedian  is  said  to  have  possessed  considerable 
merit.  He  next  undertook  the  management  of 
the  Dublin  Theatre;  but  his  attempts  at  reforma- 
tion occasioned  violent  outrages,  in  which  the 
playhouse  was  destroyed,  and  Sheridan  was 
obliged  to  remove  to  England.  At  length  peace 
was  restored  and  he  resumed  his  management 
when  another  opposition  arose  in  the  erection  of 
a  rival  theatre. 

Sheridan  now  began  his  career  as  a  teacher 
of  oratory,  which  art  he  considered  as  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  education.  Accordingly  he 
delivered  lectures  on  elocution  in  England,  Ire- 
land and  Scotland,  but  as  the  novelty  wore  away 
his  popularity  declined.  He,  however,  received 
a  pension  from  the  king,  and  published  several 
works  on  his  favorite  subject. 

After  the  retirement  of  Garrick  from  the 
stage,  Sheridan  was  appointed  (through  the  in- 
fluence of  his  distinguished  son,  Richard  Brins- 
ley  Sheridan)  manager  of  Drury  Lane  Theatre. 
He  soon  disagreed  with  the  proprietors,  and 
again  became  a  lecturer.  He  also  resumed  his 
literary  pursuits,  and  printed  a  "Dictionary  of 
the  English  Language,"  and  "The  Life  of  Swift." 
He  died  at  Margate,  August  14,  1788.  His  wife, 
Frances,  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Philip  Chamber- 


284  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

laine,  of  Dublin,  wrote  a  novel,  and  a  romance 
in  the  eastern  style,  also  two  comedies.  His 
daughters,  Alicia  and  Elizabeth,  became  success- 
ful writers. 

Anthony  Malone 

Anthony  Malone,  politician,  was  born  in  Ire- 
land December  5,  1700.  In  his  twentieth  year  he 
entered  Oxford  University,  pursued  his  legal 
studies  at  the  Middle  Temple,  and  in  May,  1726, 
was  admitted  to  the  Irish  bar.  The  following 
year  he  was  elected  to  represent  West  Meath, 
a  seat  he  held  without  interruption  until  1760. 
In  1740  he  was  appointed  prime-sergeant,  a  po- 
sition from  which  he  was  dismissed  in  1754  for 
joining  in  the  assertion  of  the  right  of  Parlia- 
ment to  dispose  of  unappropriated  taxes.  In 
1757,  under  the  Duke  of  Bedford's  government, 
he  was  made  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.  From 
this  office  he  was  also  removed,  for  maintaining 
the  right  of  the  Irish  House  of  Commons  to  orig- 
inate the  supplies.  Soon  afterwards,  however, 
he  was  placed  on  the  privy-council,  and  granted 
a  patent  of  precedence  at  the  bar.  In  1771  he 
voted  against  Lord  Townshend's  government. 

"To  a  commanding  person,  fine  voice,  an  im- 
pressive yet  conciliatory  manner,  temper  rarely 
to  be  ruffled  by  an  opponent,  were  added  powers 
of  argument  and  persuasion  so  effective  that  it 
was  once  proposed  to  transfer  him  from  the  Irish 
to  the  English  House  of  Commons,  in  order  to 
oppose  Sir  Robert  Walpole."  Grattan  declared, 
**Malone  was  a  man  of  the  finest  intellect  that 
any  country  ever  produced."  He  died  May  8, 
1776.  His  nephew,  afterwards  Lord  Sunderlin, 
inherited  most  of  his  estates. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  285 

Roger  Boyle 

Roger  Boyle,  Earl  of  Orrery,  fifth  son  of 
Richard,  Earl  of  Cork,  was  born  in  Ireland,  April 
25,  1721,  and  at  the  age  of  seven  was  created 
Lord  Broghill.  Having  graduated  at  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  he  went  abroad,  and  on  his 
return  married  the  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Suf- 
folk. During  the  Irish  war  of  1641-52  he  com- 
manded a  troop  of  horse  in  the  forces  raised  by 
his  father;  but  when  the  royal  cause  was  ruined 
and  the  king  executed,  he  retired  to  his  seat  in 
Somersetshire,  where  he  lived  privately  till  1649. 
Being,  however,  much  afifected  by  the  state  of 
affairs,  he  resolved  to  go  abroad,  and  according- 
ly applied  for  leave,  on  the  plea  that  this  meas- 
ure was  necessary  to  his  health.  The  committee 
of  state  soon  penetrated  into  his  real  design 
(which  was  that  of  joining  the  exiled  Prince 
Charles),  and  therefore  resolved  to  shut  him  up 
in  the  Tower  of  London. 

Cromwell,  being  at  this  time  nominated  to 
the  command  in  Ireland,  diverted  his  colleagues 
from  this  resolution;  and  by  his  persuasion  Lord 
Broghill  was  induced  to  accept  a  commission 
under  him,  to  act  against  the  Irish  Confederates 
only.  His  conduct  in  Ireland  gave  Cromwell 
such  satisfaction  that,  when  the  latter  became 
Lord  Protector,  he  made  Boyle  one  of  his  privy 
council.  After  the  Restoration  of  Charles  II. 
(which  Boyle  promoted)  he  was  created  Earl  of 
Orrery,  and  constituted  one  of  the  lords  justices 
of  Ireland.  He  died  October  16,  1679,  leaving 
two  sons  and  five  daughters.  He  wrote  *'Par- 
thenissa,  a  Romance";  a  "Treatise  on  the  Art  of 
War,"  several  poems  and  plays  and  other  works, 


286  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

and,  long  after  his  death  his  "State  Letters"  were 
published  in  one  volume  folio. 

Robert  Stewart 

Robert  Stewart,  Viscount  Castlereagh,  sec- 
ond Marquis  of  Londonderry,  was  born,  proba- 
bly, at  Mount  Stewart,  in  County  Down,  June 
18,  1769.  His  father,  Robert  Stewart,  represent- 
ed County  Down  in  two  parliaments,  was  ele- 
vated to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Stewart,  in  1789, 
advanced  to  be  Viscount  Castlereagh  in  1795, 
Earl  of  Londonderry  in  1796,  and  Marquis  of 
Londonderry  in  1816.  Robert  Stewart,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  received  his  early  education 
at  the  Royal  School  of  Armagh,  and  at  seventeen 
entered  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge.  In  1790 
he  was  put  in  nomination  by  his  father  for  a 
vacancy  in  the  representation  of  Down,  and  was 
elected,  after  a  struggle  of  two  months'  duration, 
and  an  outlay  of  £60,000.  In  1794  he  married 
the  youngest  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Bucking- 
ham. In  the  House  of  Commons  he  at  first  sided 
with  the  popular  party,  and  advocated  among 
other  liberal  measures,  that  which  gave  Catholics 
the  ballot  in  1793.  Gradually,  however,  his  views 
underwent  a  complete  change,  and  from  an  ultra 
Liberal  he  became  a  most  strenuous  supporter 
of  the  British  influence  in  Ireland. 

On  the  advancement  of  his  father  in  the 
peerage  in  October,  1795,  he  succeeded  to  the 
courtesy  title  of  Viscount  Castlereagh.  In  1797 
he  was  appointed  keeper  of  the  privy  seal.  In 
1799  he  was  made  Chief  Secretary  of  Ireland. 
Both  Castlereagh  and  Cornwallis  threw  them- 
selves with  the  utmost  energy  into  Pitt's  project 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  287 

of  a  legislative  union  between  Ireland  and  Great 
Britain.  January  23,  1799,  after  a  debate  lasting 
twenty-one  hours,  the  address  in  which  the  proj- 
ect was  proposed  was  carried  by  a  majority  of 
one  (106  to  105),  but  the  next  night  the  union 
paragraph  was  expunged,  109  to  104,  and  great 
rejoicing  ensued  throughout  Ireland.  The  meas- 
ure was  abandoned  for  that  session.  Castlereagh 
and  his  colleagues  now  bent  their  energies  to 
bring  about  the  union  by  every  means  within 
their  power.  Ireland  was  overawed  with  the 
presence  of  a  large  army.  Bribery  was  openly 
resorted  to,  and  promises  of  place  and  peerages, 
or  elevations  in  the  peerage,  were  freely  made. 
The  wavering  members  were  brought  over  by 
declarations  that  the  government  would  never 
lose  sight  of  the  measure  until  it  was  carried. 
Opponents  were  dismissed,  officers  in  the  army 
who  held  seats  in  parliament  and  were  likely  to 
vote  against  the  measure  were  refused  permis- 
sion to  return  home.  After  another  year  of  un- 
wearied labor  on  the  part  of  the  chief  secretary 
the  preliminary  motion  in  favor  of  the  union  was 
carried  in  the  House  of  Commons,  about  1  o'clock 
on  the  morning  of  F'ebruary  6,  1800,  by  a  vote  of 
158  to  115. 

It  is  pleasant  to  note  that,  in  spite  of  threats, 
arguments  and  lavish  promises  of  place  and  ti- 
tles, so  many  members  of  the  Irish  House  stood 
out  to  the  last  against  those  who  sought  the  ex- 
tinction of  the  autonomy  of  their  country.  The 
act  of  union  came  into  operation  January  1,  1801. 
Castlereagh  and  Cornwallis  experienced  almost 
as  much  difficulty  in  redeeming  their  promises 
as  to  the  granting  of  peerages  as  they  had  in 
passing  the  measure.  The  English  cabinet  stood 
aghast  at  the  list  presented,  and  it  was  only  by 


288  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

threatening  to  resign  office  that  the  chief  secre- 
tary and  lord  Heutenant  were  able  to  secure  the 
fulfilment  of  their  pledges.  To  save  appearances, 
Pitt  resigned,  and  with  him  Castlereagh  and 
Cornwallis.  In  order  not  to  further  embarrass 
the  government,  Castlereagh  refrained  from 
seeking  immediate  advancement  for  himself  in 
recognition  of  his  services  in  bringing  about  the 
union.  He  represented  County  Down  in  the 
United  Parliament,  where  he  was  regarded  by 
the  great  majority  of  his  fellow-countrymen  and 
the  English  Liberals  with  feelings  of  the  deepest 
hatred. 

In  July,  1802,  he  was  appointed  president 
of  the  board  of  control,  and  in  1805  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  head  of  the  war  department.  He 
lost  his  position  on  the  death  of  Pitt  in  January, 
1806,  but  was  reinstated  on  the  return  of  the 
Tories  to  power  in  April,  1807,  and  remained  in 
office  until  September,  1809. 

Alison  thus  eulogizes  his  administration: 
"If  Lord  Castlereagh  had  not  broken  through  the 
usual  routine  of  military  promotion,  and  given 
Wellington  the  command  in  Portugal  .  .  . 
the  campaign  of  Torres  Vedras  would  have  never 
encouraged  the  Russians  to  resist  French  inva- 
sion, and  furnished  a  model  on  which  their  sys- 
tem of  defense  was  to  be  framed.  If  he  had  not, 
in  the  same  year,  strenuously  combatted  the  rec- 
ommendation of  the  Bullion  Committee  .  .  . 
national  bankruptcy  would  have  prostrated  Great 
Britain  at  the  very  crisis  of  the  war.  If  he 
had  not  withstood  the  loud  clamor  against  the 
Peninsular  war,  if  he  had  failed  in  feeding  Well- 
ington with  adequate  supplies,  the  battle  of  Vit- 
toria  would  never  have  caused  Joseph's  crown  to 
drop  from  his  head,  or  brought  Austria  at  the 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  289 

decisive  moment  into  the  field,  after  the  armistice 
of  Pleswitz." 

On  April  4,  1809,  in  consequence  of  disagree- 
ments between  Castlereagh  and  Canning,  as  to 
the  conduct  of  the  Peninsular  war,  it  was  re- 
solved at  a  private  meeting  of  the  cabinet  that 
Castlereagh  should  be  called  upon  to  resign.  This 
resolution  was  not  communicated  to  him  until 
the  7th  of  September.  The  result  was  a  duel  be- 
tween Castlereagh  and  Canning,  in  which  the 
latter  was  wounded,  and  the  resignation  of  both. 
On  Lord  Wellesley's  resignation  in  February, 
1812,  he  was  appointed  Secretary  of  Foreign  Af- 
fairs, a  post  he  held  until  his  death.  In  Decem- 
ber, 1813,  he  was  appointed  minister  plenipoten- 
tiary with  the  allied  sovereigns;  and  although 
not  actually  a  member  of  the  Chatillion  Congress 
of  the  following  February,  exercised,  through  his 
brother,  a  preponderating  influence  upon  its  pro- 
ceedings. For  these  services  he  was  decorated 
with  the  order  of  the  Garter. 

During  the  Hundred  Days  he  was  indefati- 
gable in  his  exertions  to  keep  together  the  Grand 
Alliance  and  prepare  the  means  of  resisting  Na- 
poleon, and  after  the  battle  of  Waterloo  he  went 
to  Paris  to  conduct  the  negotiations  then  pend- 
ing for  the  settlement  of  the  affairs  of  Europe. 
After  these  events  his  attention  was  mainly  di- 
rected to  home  politics,  and  the  course  he  took 
was  one  of  uncompromising  opposition  to  all 
measures  of  reform. 

In  1821,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  he  became 
Marquis  of  Londonderry.  The  nature  of  the  du- 
ties in  connection  with  the  congresses  of  Trop- 
pau,  Laybach  and  Verona,  which  assembled  be- 
tween 1820  and  1822,  pressed  heavily  upon  his 
mind,  and,  August  12,  1822,  he  committed  suicide 


290  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

at  his  seat  in  Kent,  England.  No  words  can  ex- 
press the  varied  feelings  of  grief,  horror,  and 
delight  that  pervaded  the  country  at  the  news 
of  his  death.  While  the  coffin  was  being  removed 
from  his  residence  to  Westminster  Abbey  the 
people  vented  their  joy  at  his  death  in  shouts 
of  exultation.  The  feelings  of  the  masses  in  Ire- 
land were  not  more  regardful  of  his  memory. 

Barrington  says:  "In  private  life,  his  hon- 
orable conduct,  gentlemanly  habits,  and  engag- 
ing demeanor  were  exemplary.  Of  his  public 
life,  the  commencement  was  patriotic,  the  prog- 
ress was  corrupt,  and  the  termination  criminal. 
His  first  public  essay  was  a  motion  to  reform  the 
Irish  Parliament,  and  his  last  was  to  corrupt  and 
annihilate  it  by  bribing  154  of  its  members.  It 
is  impossible  to  deny  a  fact  so  notorious.  His- 
tory, tradition,  or  the  fictions  of  romance  contain 
no  instance  of  a  minister  in  Ireland  who  so  fear- 
lessly deviated  from  all  the  principles  which 
ought  to  characterize  the  servant  of  a  constitu- 
tional monarch,  or  the  citizen  of  a  free  country." 
Castlereagh  was  succeeded  by  his  brother 
Charles.  The  "Memoirs  and  Correspondence," 
edited  by  the  latter,  appeared  in  twelve  volumes 
between  1848  and  1853. 

Francis  Kirwan 

Francis  Kirwan,  R.  C.  Bishop  of  Killala,  was 
born  in  Galway  in  1589,  and  received  the  rudi- 
ments of  education  from  his  uncle,  Rev.  Arthur 
Lynch,  a  Catholic  clergyman,  who  from  time  to 
time  had  endured  the  most  trying  persecutions 
on  account  of  his  faith.  Francis  subsequently 
studied  at  Lisbon,  and  was  ordained  in  1614. 
Proceeding  to  France  the  year  following,  to  pur- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  291 

sue  his  studies,  he  taught  philosophy  at  Dieppe 
for  some  time.  In  1620,  returning  to  Ireland,  he 
was  commissioned  by  Archbishop  Conroy  as 
vicar  general  of  his  province  of  Taum,  and  in 
this  capacity  labored  untiringly  in  the  wilds  and 
islands  of  the  West  of  Ireland  until  the  arch- 
bishop's death  in  1629,  after  which  he  proceeded 
to  France. 

At  Paris,  May  7,  1645,  Kirwan  was  conse- 
crated Bishop  of  Killala,  when  he  returned  to  his 
native  city  for  a  time,  but  after  its  fall  in  1651 
had  to  lie  concealed  from  the  fury  of  the  Parlia- 
mentary troops  in  the  neighborhood  for  many 
months.  He  underwent  the  greatest  sufferings 
and  privations — during  eight  entire  months  be- 
ing able  but  thrice  to  leave  his  hiding  place  in 
a  miserable  garret  infested  by  mice.  He  was 
afterwards  imprisoned  in  Galway,  where,  forget- 
ful of  his  own  sufferings,  he  strove  to  alleviate 
those  of  his  fellow-prisoners.  In  August,  1655, 
the  bishop  was  banished  to  France,  and,  at 
Nantes,  was  for  some  years  sheltered  in  the  house 
of  a  friend.  His  death  took  place  at  Rennes,  Au- 
gust 27,  1661.  His  "Life,"  written  by  his  nephew, 
John  Lynch,  the  Archdeacon  of  Taum,  was  re- 
published, with  a  translation  and  notes  by  Rev. 
C.  P.  Meehan,  in  1848. 

Oliver  Plunket 

Oliver  Plunket,  R.  C.  Archbishop  of  Ar- 
magh, was  born  in  Loughcrew,  County  Meath, 
in  1629.  He  was  descended  from  an  old  Anglo- 
Norman  family,  and  was  related  to  Dr.  Plunket, 
Bishop  of  Ardagh,  and  Peter  Talbot,  Archbishop 
of  Dublin.  In  1645  he  was  sent  to  Rome  under 
the  care  of  Father  Scarampo,  Papal  Legate,  to 


292  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

complete  his  education,  and  next  year  entered 
the  Irish  College,  where  he  remained  eight  years. 
In  1654  he  was  ordained  for  the  Irish  ministry, 
but  the  state  of  the  country  rendered  his  return 
impossible,  and  he  continued  to  reside  in  Rome, 
where  he  spent  altogether  some  twenty-five  years 
— from  1645  to  1669.  In  1857  he  was  appointed 
professor  in  the  College  of  the  Propaganda, 
where  he  lectured  for  about  twelve  years. 

In  1668  he  was  appointed  agent  of  the  Irish 
clergy  in  Rome.  About  this  time  he  composed 
his  Irish  poem,  "O  Tara  of  the  Kings."  July  9, 
1669,  he  was  nominated  Archbishop  of  Armagh. 
When  leaving  Rome  he  presented  a  small  estate 
to  the  Irish  College,  besides  many  books  and  pic- 
tures. He  was  consecrated  in  November  at 
Ghent,  it  being  supposed  that  his  consecration 
there  would  be  less  likely  to  bring  him  into  trou- 
ble with  the  government  in  Ireland  than  if  done 
in  Rome.  While  in  London,  on  his  way,  he  was 
secretly  lodged  for  ten  days  in  the  royal  palace, 
by  Father  Howard,  Grand  Almoner. 

During  the  ten  years  of  his  episcopate  he  was 
unceasing  in  his  endeavors  to  re-establish  and 
strengthen  the  fabric  of  his  church,  torn  and 
shattered  by  the  events  of  previous  years.  He 
presided  at  synods,  held  confirmations,  estab- 
lished colleges  and  schools — traveling  incessant- 
ly, not  only  in  Ireland,  but  the  Hebrides.  Writ- 
ing December  15,  1673,  he  said  he  had  confirmed 
48,655  in  the  previous  four  years.  He  bore  perse- 
cution and  poverty  with  unflinching  fortitude.  At 
times  he  had  to  preach  and  administer  the  sacra- 
ments in  forests  or  on  remote  hillsides,  and  to 
hide  himself  in  garrets  and  miserable  cabins.  In 
1674  the  clergy  were  everywhere  obliged  to  fly 
to  the  woods  and  mountains  to  seek  refuge,  and 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  293 

he  wrote  that  in  the  city  of  Cashel  there  was  not 
a  single  CathoHc  who  could  give  lodging  for  one 
night,  and  that  there  was  but  one  parish  priest 
in  the  whole  city. 

The  archbishop's  correspondence  with  Rome 
continued  even  in  the  worst  times  of  persecution, 
and  is  said  to  have  cost  him  £25  a  year — half 
the  revenue  of  his  see.  In  July,  1679,  he  was 
arrested  in  Dundalk,  and  committed  to  New- 
gate prison,  Dublin.  He  was  charged  with 
having  compassed  the  invasion  of  Ireland  by  for- 
eign powers;  with  having  obtained  money  from 
the  Irish  clergy  to  maintain  a  French  army  of 
70,000  men,  and  with  having  conspired  to  take 
all  the  forts  and  harbors  in  Ireland. 

In  October,  1680,  the  archbishop  was  re- 
moved to  England,  and  on  May  3,  1681,  was  ar- 
raigned at  the  King's  Bench,  when  he  pleaded 
not  guilty.  Five  weeks  were  allowed  him  to  pro- 
cure witnesses,  and  on  the  8th  of  June  he  was 
again  brought  up.  His  messengers  had  long  been 
detained  at  Holyhead  by  stress  of  weather,  and 
had  not  had  time  to  gather  in  Ireland  the  scat- 
tered witnesses  necessary  to  disprove  the  asser- 
tions of  his  adversaries.  The  trial  proceeded 
notwithstanding;  the  jury  after  a  quarter  of  an 
hour's  consideration  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty, 
and  he  was  sentenced  to  be  hanged,  drawn  and 
quartered.  He  bore  himself  with  great  dignity 
throughout  the  trial,  and  on  its  conclusion  again 
maintained  his  innocence,  and  simply  asked  that 
a  servant  and  some  friends  might  be  permitted  to 
visit  him. 

He  was  brought  to  Tyburn,  July  1,  1681. 
After  making  a  long  and  dignified  speech,  point- 
ing the  absurdity  of  the  charges  brought  against 
him,  he  resigned  himself  to  the  executioner. 
Wood   says  in  his   "Athense  Oxonienses"   that 


294  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Archbishop  Plunket's  remains  rested  in  the 
churchyard  of  St.  Giles-in-the-Fields  until  1683, 
when  they  were  removed  to  Landsprug,  in  Ger- 
many. His  head  is  preserved  in  a  shrine  in  the 
convent  of  St.  Catherine  at  Drogheda.  Subse- 
quent events  proved  his  entire  innocence  of  the 
charges  brought  against  him. 

Michael  Moor 

Michael  Moor,  D.  D.,  provost  of  Trinity  Col- 
lege, was  born  in  Dublin  in  1640.  He  was  edu- 
cated in  France;  for  some  years  taught  philos- 
ophy and  rhetoric  in  the  college  at  Grassin,  and 
upon  his  return  home  was  ordained  priest  by 
Luke  Wadding  (not  the  Franciscan),  who  was 
R.  C.  Bishop  of  Ferns,  in  1684.  For  some  time 
Father  Moor  had,  as  vicar  general,  charge  of  the 
whole  diocese  of  Dublin.  During  James  II. 's 
personal  government  of  Ireland  he  was,  in  op- 
position to  the  Jesuits,  and  although  a  Catholic, 
made  provost  of  Trinity  College.  He  did  much 
to  mitigate  the  sufferings  of  the  Protestant  pris- 
oners, and  it  was  largely  owing  to  his  exertions 
that  the  valuable  collections  in  the  library  were 
preserved  from  injury  during  the  military  occu- 
pation of  the  college. 

In  preaching  before  the  king  he  upon  one  oc- 
casion took  the  text :  "If  the  blind  lead  the  blind, 
both  shall  fall  into  the  ditch."  This  so  incensed 
James  (who  having  a  confessor  with  weak  eyes, 
considered  the  discourse  levelled  against  himself) 
that  he  deprived  Moor  of  his  preferments,  and 
obliged  him  to  retire  to  France,  from  which,  on 
James'  return,  he  removed  to  Rome,  where  he 
enjoyed  the  favor  of  Innocent  XII,  and  Clement 
XI.    After  the  death  of  James  II.  he  returned  to 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  295 

France,  and,  according  to  Harris'  Ware,  was 
made  Rector  of  the  University  of  Paris,  in  which 
he  estabHshed  an  Irish  Colleg-e.  To  it  he  be- 
queathed his  choice  hbrary,  which,  however,  was 
found  greatly  thinned  at  his  death,  owing  to  the 
depredations  of  a  secretary  he  had  employed 
when  afflicted  in  his  latter  days  with  blindness. 
He  died  in  Paris,  August  22,  1726,  and  was  buried 
in  the  chapel  of  the  Irish  College.  Harris'  Ware 
gives  a  list  of  his  theological  works,  which  are  all 
in  Latin. 

James  A.  Goold 

James  Alipius  Goold,  R.  C.  Bishop,  was 
born  in  Cork,  November  4,  1812.  He  studied  for 
the  priesthood  at  Rome,  and  after  being  ordained 
was  induced  to  enter  the  Australian  mission  and 
arrived  at  Sydney,  N.  S.  W.,  in  1838.  He  was  for 
some  years  assistant  to  Archbishop  Polding  and 
subsequently  became  Dean  of  Campbelltown.  In 
1847  he  was  appointed  bishop  of  the  newly-con- 
stituted see  of  Melbourne,  and  consecrated  at 
Sydney  in  August,  1848,  by  Archbishop  Polding. 
The  discovery  of  gold  in  Victoria  caused  a  rapid 
increase  of  population  and  by  his  energetic  la- 
bors churches,  schools  and  convents  were  erected 
to  meet  the  demands  of  the  Catholic  emigration. 
On  his  recommendation  the  Pope  created  Sand- 
hurst and  Ballarat  into  separate  bishoprics  in 
1874,  and  in  the  same  year  he  was  made  the  first 
Archbishop  of  Melbourne  and  Metropolitan  of 
the  province  of  Victoria.    He  died  June  11,  1886. 

John  Miley 

John  Miley,  D.  D.,  a  distinguished  Catholic 
divine,  was  born  in  County  Kildare  about  the 


296  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

year  1800.  He  received  his  education  at  May- 
nooth  and  at  Rome.  After  his  ordination  he  was 
appointed  a  curate  in  the  metropoUtan  parish, 
DubHn,  by  Archbishop  Murray.  He  became 
Rector  of  the  Irish  College,  Paris,  in  1849;  and 
in  1859  was  appointed  parish  priest  of  Bray.  He 
was  the  friend  of  O'Connell,  whom  he  attended 
in  his  last  moments,  and  whose  funeral  panegyric 
he  pronounced  in  Dublin.  Dr.  Miley  was  an  ac- 
complished preacher,  and  was  the  author  of  sev- 
eral works,  among  which  may  be  noted  "Rome 
Under  Paganism  and  the  Popes"  (1848);  "His- 
tory of  the  Papal  States"  (1850),  and  "Temporal 
Sovereignty  of  the  Popes."  He  died  at  Bray, 
April  18,  1861. 

Patrick  Leahy 

Patrick  Leahy,  R.  C.  Archbishop  of  Cashel, 
was  born  near  Thurles  about  1807.  Entering 
Maynooth,  he  distinguished  himself,  and  at  the 
end  of  his  course  was  appointed  Professor  in  St. 
Patrick's  College  at  Thurles.  He  soon  became 
president  of  that  institution,  and  in  1850  occupied 
the  important  post  of  Secretary  to  the  synod  of 
Thurles.  Not  long  afterwards  he  was  appointed 
vice  rector  of  the  Catholic  University.  On  the 
death  of  Archbishop  Slattery  he  was  in  1857  con- 
secrated Archbishop  of  Cashel.  One  of  his  first 
acts  was  the  enforcement  of  the  Sunday  closing 
of  public  houses,  and  he  made  strenuous  efiforts 
to  put  down  the  practice  of  faction-fighting.  The 
fine  cathedral  in  Thurles  is  an  enduring  monu- 
ment of  his  zeal  and  energy.  He  had  special  gifts 
which  fitted  him  to  make  a  profound  impression 
as  an  ecclesiastical  orator;  such  as  wide  and  va- 
ried learning,  a  profound  mastery  of  theology,  a 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  297 

comprehensive  grasp  of  intellect,  an  unfailing 
store  of  language,  powerful  voice  and  an  impos- 
ing presence,  and  to  these  were  added  the  apos- 
tolic zeal  and  tender  piety  which  distinguished 
him  from  his  youth.     He  died  January  26,  1875. 

William  Bathe 

William  Bathe,  educator  and  author,  was 
born  in  Dublin  about  1564.  He  studied  at  Ox- 
ford, but  being  converted  to  Catholicity  he  re- 
tired to  the  continent  and  joined  the  Society  of 
Jesus  at  Tournay  in  1596.  Traveling  in  Italy 
and  Spain,  he  was  ultimately  appointed  professor 
of  languages  at  the  Irish  College  in  Salamanca. 
He  was  the  author  of  "An  Introduction  to  the 
Art  of  Music,"  London,  1584;  "Mysteries  of  the 
Faith,"  and  other  works  on  the  study  of  Latin. 
He  died  at  Madrid,  June  17,  1614. 

John  McMullen 

John  McMullen,  R.  C.  Bishop,  was  born  in 
Ballinahinch,  County  Down,  January  8,  1832,  son 
of  James  and  Alice  McMullen.  In  1833  the  fam- 
ily emigrated  to  Canada,  settling  first  in  Halifax, 
Quebec,  and  afterwards  in  the  Province  of  On- 
tario. In  1837  they  removed  to  Ogdensburg, 
N.  Y.,  and  finally,  in  1843,  settled  in  Chicago,  111. 
John  was  early  destined  for  the  church,  and  after 
graduating  at  the  University  of  St.  Mary  of 
the  Lake  in  1853,  he  completed  his  studies  at  the 
Urban  College  in  Rome,  where  he  was  ordained 
priest  June  20,  1858,  and  received  the  degree  of 
D.  D. 

Returning  to  Chicago,  he  was  attached  to 
several  churches  until   1861,  when  he  was  ap- 


298  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

pointed  President  of  the  University  of  St.  Mary 
of  the  Lake  by  Bishop  Duggan.  He  subsequent- 
ly became  pastor  at  Wihnington,  111.,  but  shortly 
after  the  installation  of  Bishop  Foley  he  re- 
turned to  Chicago  and  became  pastor  of  the  Ca- 
thedral of  the  Holy  Name  and  vicar  general  of 
the  diocese  in  1877.  He  was  chosen  Bishop  of 
the  new  see  of  Davenport,  Iowa,  by  Pope  Leo 
XIII.,  and  was  consecrated  in  the  Cathedral  of 
the  Holy  Name  by  Archbishop  Feehan,  July  25, 
1S81.  Here  he  remained  the  rest  of  his  life.  He 
died  at  Davenport,  Iowa,  July  4,  1883.  His  "Life 
and  Writings,"  by  the  Rev.  James  J.  McGovern, 
D.  D.,  was  published  in  1888. 

Paul  Cullen 

Paul  Cullen,  cardinal,  Archbishop  of  Dublin, 
was  born  near  Ballytore,  County  Kildare,  April 
29,  1803.  His  early  education  was  received  at 
the  Shackleton  School  in  Ballytore,  where  Ed- 
mund Burke  had  formerly  been  a  pupil,  and  in 
Carlow  College,  under  Dr.  Doyle,  afterwards 
Bishop  of  Kildare  and  Leighlin.  In  1820  he  en- 
tered the  Urban  College  of  the  Propaganda  in 
Rome.  His  college  course  was  brilliant  and  in 
a  public  disputation  before  Pope  Leo  XIII.  and 
his  court,  September  11,  1828,  Cullen  undertook 
to  defend  all  theology  in  244  theses.  At  the  close 
of  the  proceedings  the  doctor's  cap  was  conferred 
on  him  by  the  Pope.  After  his  ordination  as 
priest,  in  1829,  he  was  appointed  vice  rector,  and 
afterwards  rector  of  the  Irish  College  in  Rome. 

From  May,  1848,  to  January,  1849,  he  was 
rector  of  the  College  of  the  Propaganda.  During 
the  Roman  Revolution  an  order  was  issued  by 
the  Revolutionary  Triumvirate  commanding  the 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  299 

students  of  the  Propaganda  to  leave  the  college 
within  a  few  hours.  As  a  number  of  the  students 
were  American  citizens,  Dr.  Cullen  immediately 
applied  to  Lewis  Cass,  United  States  Minister  at 
Rome,  for  intervention.  Cass  promptly  demand- 
ed protection  to  the  college,  which  was  at  once 
granted,  and  also  resulted  in  a  new  order  being 
issued  by  the  Triumvirs  forbidding  interference 
with  the  institution.  Thus  Dr.  Cullen  managed 
to  save  the  famous  college  by  placing  it  under 
American  protection.  On  the  death  of  Dr.  Crol- 
ly,  Archbishop  of  A.rmagh,  in  1849,  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  fill  the  vacancy  in  the  primatical  see, 
and  was  consecrated  in  Rome  by  Cardinal  Cas- 
trocane,  February  24,  1850. 

Soon  after  his  return  to  Ireland,  as  Apostolic 
Delegate,  he  convened  the  synod  of  Thurles,  in 
August,  1850,  being  the  first  national  assemblage 
held  in  Ireland  since  the  so-called  reformation, 
in  which  the  establishment  of  a  Catholic  uni- 
versity was  recommended.  May  1,  1852,  Arch- 
bishop Cullen  was  transferred  to  the  See  of  Dub- 
lin, and  in  1867  he  was  created  a  Cardinal  Priest, 
with  the  title  of  San  Pietro  in  Montorio,  being 
the  first  Irishman  to  attain  that  great  dignity. 
In  September,  1875,  he  presided  at  the  synod  of 
Maynooth. 

In  the  course  of  his  long  episcopate  he  paid 
frequent  visits  to  Rome,  where  he  was  always  a 
welcome  visitor  to  Pope  Pius  IX.  He  died  in 
Dublin,  October  24,  1878,  and  was  interred  in 
the  high  altar  in  the  chapel  of  Clonlift'e  College. 
Archbishop  Cullen  was  a  noted  theologian,  and 
one  of  the  foremost  ecclesiastics  of  his  time.  He 
erected  many  churches,  convents  and  asylums — 
the  diocesan  College  of  Clonlifi^e  and  the  Mater 
Misericordite   Hospital   are   monuments   of   his 


300  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

zeal  and  energy.  He  took  especial  interest  in  all 
matters  relating  to  Irish  education.  His  oppo- 
sition to  revolutionary  doctrines  was  outspoken. 


Bernard  O'Reilly 

Bernard  O'Reilly,  R.  C.  bishop,  was  born  in 
County  Longford,  in  March,  1803.  Evincing  a 
desire  to  devote  himself  to  the  missions  of  Amer- 
ica, he  went  to  Montreal  in  1825,  and  prepared 
for  the  priesthood  in  the  Sulpician  Seminary.  On 
the  completion  of  his  studies  there  he  entered  St. 
Mary's  College,  Baltimore,  Md.,  and  was  or- 
dained priest  in  the  city  of  New  York,  October  13, 
1831,  by  Bishop  Kenrick,  of  Philadelphia.  His 
first  mission  duty  was  in  New  York  and  Brook- 
lyn. During  the  ravages  of  cholera  in  the  latter 
city  in  1832  he  was  twice  stricken  with  the  mal- 
ady while  ministering  to  the  sufferers.  In  De- 
cember, 1832,  he  was  appointed  pastor  of  St. 
Patrick's  Church  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  where  he 
remained  until  1847,  when  he  was  made  vicar 
general  of  the  diocese  of  Buffalo  by  Bishop  Ti- 
mon. 

Shortly  after  his  removal  to  Buffalo  the  hos- 
pital there  under  the  charge  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity  was  attacked  by  John  C.  Lord,  D.  D.,  a 
Presbyterian  clergyman,  which  resulted  in  an 
extended  controversy  between  the  latter  and 
Father  O'Reilly  in  the  public  press.  The  discus- 
sion ended,  with  his  adversary  completely  si- 
lenced, when  Father  O'Reilly  published  three  able 
articles,  including  "The  Catholic  Church  the 
Church  of  Christ."  At  the  Council  of  Baltimore 
in  1849  he  was  nominated  Bishop  of  Hartford, 
Conn.,   and   was   consecrated   in    St.    Patrick's 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  301 

Church,  Rochester,  by  Bishop  Timon,  to  succeed 
Dr.  Tyler,  deceased. 

He  introduced  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  into  the 
diocese,  and  erected  St.  Joseph's  Church  in  Provi- 
dence, R.  I.,  in  1854.  In  1855  St.  Francis  Xavier's 
Convent  w^as  threatened  by  a  mob,  but  through 
the  great  courage  of  the  bishop  in  facing  the  dis- 
turbers the  institution  was  saved  from  harm. 
"The  Sisters  are  in  their  home,"  he  said.  "They 
shall  not  leave  it  even  for  an  hour.  I  shall  pro- 
tect them  while  I  have  life,  and,  if  needs  be, 
register  their  safety  with  my  blood."  He  went 
to  Europe  in  1855  to  secure  teachers  for  his  dio- 
cesan schools,  and  pay  a  visit  to  his  parents  in 
Ireland.  Embarking  for  this  country  in  the  ill- 
fated  steamship  Pacific,  January  23,  1856,  he  nor 
the  vessel  was  ever  seen  again. 

Francis  Xavier  Gartland 

Francis  Xavier  Gartland,  R.  C.  bishop,  was 
born  in  Dublin  in  1805.  Coming  with  his  parents 
to  the  United  States  he  was  left  an  orphan  at 
an  early  age.  Having  passed  through  the  theo- 
logical course  in  Mount  St.  Mary's  College,  Em- 
mitsburg,  Md.,  he  was  ordained  priest  by  Bishop 
Conwell,  of  Philadelphia,  in  1832,  and  appointed 
assistant  to  Rev.  John  Hughes  (afterwards  arch- 
bishop) in  St.  John's  Church,  in  the  latter  city. 
On  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Hughes  to  the  coad- 
jutorship  of  New  York,  Father  Gartland  suc- 
ceeded him  as  pastor,  and  in  1845  was  made 
vicar  general  of  the  Philadelphia  diocese  by 
Bishop  Kenrick.  On  the  erection  of  the  See  of 
Savannah,  Ga.,  in  1850,  he  was  appointed  first 
bishop  and  was  consecrated  September  10,  1850. 
Archbishop    Eccleston    was    the    consecrating 


302  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

prelate,  assisted  by  Bishops  Kenrick  and  O'Con- 
nor. 

Bishop  Gartland  at  once  proceeded  to  his 
new  field  of  activity,  began  the  work  of  organi- 
zation, and  made  a  personal  visitation  of  the  dio- 
cese, which  then  embraced  the  state  of  Georgia 
and  a  part  of  Florida.  In  1851  he  visited  Europe 
to  secure  assistants  and  co-laborers.  On  his  re- 
turn he  established  a  house  of  Sisters  of  Mercy 
at  Augusta,  founded  an  orphan  asylum  at  Savan- 
nah and  built  schools  in  various  other  places. 
While  laboring  among  the  sick,  during  an  epi- 
demic of  yellow  fever  in  Savannah,  in  1854,  he 
contracted  the  disease  and  died  there  September 
20,  1854. 

John  Barry 

John  Barry,  R.  C.  bishop,  was  born  in  Coun- 
ty Wexford,  in  1799.  He  came  to  America  be- 
fore the  completion  of  his  theological  studies  and 
finished  his  course  at  the  seminary  in  Charleston, 
S.  C,  under  Bishop  England.  He  was  ordained 
priest  at  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Finbar,  September 
24,  1825.  He  was  made  pastor  of  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Trinity  at  Augusta,  Ga.,  in  1826;  vicar 
general  of  the  diocese  of  Charleston  and  superior 
of  the  theological  seminary  in  1844,  and  on  the 
death  of  Bishop  Gartland,  he  was  appointed  ad- 
ministrator of  the  See  of  Savannah.  In  1857 
he  was  appointed  bishop  and  consecrated  in  the 
Baltimore  Cathedral,  August  2,  1857. 

Dr.  Barry  was  distinguished  for  his  charities 
and  great  labors  for  the  sick  and  poor.  In  1832, 
during  the  cholera  epidemic  in  Georgia,  he  cared 
for  the  sick  in  his  own  house,  and  in  1853,  when 
yellow  fever  broke  out  in  Savannah,  he  exerted 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  303 

himself  assiduously  toward  assisting  the  sick  and 
dying.  He  went  to  Europe  to  recuperate  his  fail- 
ing health,  but  died  at  Paris,  November  19,  1859. 
Bishop  Barry  established  the  first  Catholic  day 
school  in  the  State  of  Georgia. 

Patrick  Kelly 

Patrick  Kelly,  R.  C.  bishop,  was  born  in  Kil- 
kenny, April  16,  1799.  He  was  for  many  years 
professor  and  afterwards  President  of  St.  John's 
Seminary,  Birchfield,  Kilkenny.  He  had  studied 
in  the  Irish  College  at  Lisbon,  Portugal,  and  was 
ordained  priest  in  1802.  On  the  erection  of  the 
See  of  Richmond,  Va.,  July  11,  1820,  Father 
Kelly  was  selected  as  its  first  bishop.  He  was 
consecrated  in  Kilkenny,  August  24,  1820,  by 
Archbishop  Troy,  of  Dublin,  assisted  by  Bishops 
Murray  and  Marum.  He  arrived  in  Norfolk,  Va., 
which  city  he  selected  as  his  residence,  January 
19,  1821. 

He  found  the  diocese  without  any  facilities 
for  a  Catholic  education,  and  with  but  seven 
churches,  one  of  which  was  in  Norfolk.  He 
opened  a  school,  which  he  himself  conducted, 
and  in  addition  to  his  teaching  and  episcopal 
function  performed  the  duties  of  a  mission  priest. 
In  consequence  of  Bishop  Kelly's  failing  health 
he  was  transferred  to  the  See  of  Waterford  and 
Lismore,  and  in  July  1822,  he  returned  to  Ire- 
land. Here  he  ministered  for  seven  years  and 
died  at  Waterford,  October  8,  1829. 

William  Clancy 

William  Clancy,  R.  C.  bishop,  was  born  in 
Cork  in  1802.    He  studied  in  Carlow  College  for 


304  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

six  years,  and  in  1829  was  appointed  to  the  chair 
of  theology  in  the  same  institution.  He  was  made 
coadjutor  to  Bishop  England,  of  Charleston,  S. 
C,  in  1835,  and  consecrated  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Carlow,  February  1,  1835,  by  Bishop  Nolan,  of 
Kildare,  with  the  title  of  Bishop  of  Omense.  He 
reached  Charleston  in  November,  1835,  and  for 
two  years  assisted  Bishop  England  in  his  arduous 
duties.  In  1837  he  was  transferred  to  British 
Guiana  as  vicar  apostolic,  where  he  remained 
about  ten  years.  He  returned  to  Ireland  in  1847, 
where  he  died  June  19,  of  that  year. 

Richard  Luke  Concanen 

Richard  Luke  Concanen,  R.  C.  bishop,  was 
born  in  County  Roscommon  about  1740.  At  an 
early  age  he  went  to  Lorraine  and  entered  the 
Dominican  Convent  of  the  Holy  Cross,  and  from 
there  proceeded  to  Rome,  where  he  completed 
his  theological  studies.  He  was  ordained  priest 
in  1770,  and  appointed  to  a  professorship  in  the 
Dominican  Convent  of  St.  Clement's;  subse- 
quently theologian  of  the  Casanatensian  Li- 
brary, prior  of  the  Convent  of  St.  Clemenf  s  in 
1781,  and  acted  as  agent  for  the  Irish  bishops  at 
Rome.  In  1798  he  was  obliged  to  decline  the 
bishopric  of  Kilmacduagh,  Ireland,  owing  to  poor 
health.  He  was  afterwards  appointed  first 
Bishop  of  New  York,  and  was  consecrated  in 
Rome  April  24,  1808. 

He  had  previously  taken  a  deep  interest  in 
the  Dominican  missions  in  America,  and  had  con- 
tributed towards  the  support  of  the  Convent  of 
St.  Rose,  in  Kentucky,  of  which  he  continued  to 
be  a  personal  contributor  as  long  as  he  lived.  Be- 
fore leaving  Rome  he  was  commissioned  by  the 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  305 

Pope  to  carry  the  pallium  to  Archbishop  Carroll, 
along  with  the  bulls  erecting  Baltimore  into  an 
archiepiscopal  see.  Owing  to  the  French  opera- 
tions in  southern  Europe  he  made  an  unsuccess- 
ful effort  to  depart  for  America  at  Leghorn. 
After  a  few  months*  stay  there  and  at  Locanda, 
he  returned  to  Rome,  where  he  remained  until 
1810.  He  then  made  another  attempt  to  reach 
New  York  by  way  of  Naples,  but  was  arrested  by 
order  of  Napoleon's  brother-in-law,  Murat  (as 
he  was  about  to  embark  on  a  vessel  bound  for 
Salem,  Mass.),  on  the  pretext  that  he  was  a  Brit- 
ish subject.  He  was  imprisoned  there  in  the 
Convent  of  St.  Dominic,  where  he  died  of  fever, 
June  19,  1810. 

John  Connolly 

John  Connolly,  R.  C.  bishop,  was  born  in 
Drogheda  in  1750.  He  studied  theology  in  Dro- 
gheda  and  at  Liege,  Belgium,  and  joined  the  Do- 
minicans. He  subsequently  went  to  Rome  and 
after  his  ordination,  in  1787,  was  elected  prior 
of  the  Convent  of  St.  Clement's  and  agent  of 
the  Irish  bishops.  He  was  appointed  Bishop  of 
New  York  by  Pope  Pius  VII.  in  1814,  and  was 
consecrated  in  Rome  in  November  of  that  year. 
After  visiting  the  diocese  of  Liege  in  Belgium, 
and  his  native  country,  he  embarked  at  Dublin 
and  reached  New  York  late  in  the  year  1815. 

On  taking  possession  of  his  diocese,  which 
embraced  the  State  of  New  York  and  part  of  New 
Jersey,  Bishop  Connolly  found  only  four  priests 
to  assist  him  in  his  numerous  duties.  He  erected 
a  church  at  Utica,  and  at  Rochester,  N.  Y. ;  built 
an  orphan  asylum  in  New  York  City,  and  intro- 
duced the  Sisters  of  Charity  into  the  diocese. 


3o6  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

During  an  epidemic  of  yellow  fever  in  New  York 
in  1822  and  1823  his  strength  was  greatly  ex- 
hausted and  he  died  in  New  York  City,  February 
6,  1825. 

Henry  Conwell 

Henry  Conwell,  R.  C.  bishop,  was  born  in 
County  Derry,  Ireland,  about  1745.  He  studied 
in  the  Irish  College  at  Paris,  was  ordained  priest 
in  1776,  and  labored  in  his  native  country  for 
over  forty  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he 
was  vicar  general  of  the  See  of  Armagh.  He  was 
consecrated  Bishop  of  Philadelphia  in  London, 
England,  September  24,  1820.  On  arriving  in 
this  country  the  spirit  of  dissension  which  had 
begun  in  his  diocese  long  before,  he  found,  was 
still  rife,  and  in  1821  was  compelled  to  leave 
St.  Mary's  Church  (the  bishop's  cathedral)  and 
retire  to  St.  Joseph's  Chapel,  near  by.  The  trus- 
tees of  the  Cathedral  Church  refused  to  recog- 
nize him  as  bishop  and  they  installed  a  refrac- 
tory priest  as  their  pastor.  The  schism  contin- 
ued, and  after  every  effort  to  establish  peace  had 
been  made,  he  went  to  Rome  in  1828  to  lay  the 
matter  before  the  Holy  See. 

On  arriving  in  Rome  he  was  advised  to  re- 
main in  Europe,  but  the  aged  bishop  suddenly 
left  the  city  and  went  to  Paris,  where  the  papal 
nuncio  also  advised  him  not  to  return  to  Phila- 
delphia. Shortly  afterwards,  however,  he  re- 
turned to  this  country,  and  at  the  Council  of  Bal- 
timore was  prevailed  upon  to  accept  a  coadjutor. 
Dr.  Francis  P.  Kenrick  was  appointed  to  the 
place,  and  thereafter  Bishop  Conwell  lived  in  re- 
tirement. He  became  blind  in  the  latter  years 
of  his  life  and  died  in  Philadelphia,  April  22, 
1842,  at  the  age  of  ninety-four. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  307 

Andrew  Byrne 

Andrew  Byrne,  R.  C.  bishop,  was  born  in 
Navan,  County  Meath,  December  5,  1802.  While 
a  student  in  the  College  of  Navan,  he  volunteered 
to  accompany  Bishop  England  to  South  Carolina, 
who  was  seeking  recruits  in  Ireland  for  the 
American  mission.  He  arrived  in  this  country  in 
1820,  and,  pursuing  his  studies  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Bishop  England,  he  was  ordained  priest 
by  that  prelate  November  11,  1827.  Serving  as 
a  missionary  priest  in  North  and  South  Carolina 
for  many  years,  in  which  he  was  compelled  to 
endure  long  and  fatiguing  journeys  to  the  scat- 
tered Catholic  families.  Father  Byrne's  health  be- 
came much  impaired  and  he  returned  to  Charles- 
ton in  1830. 

He  was  made  vicar  general  of  the  diocese 
and  in  1833  accompanied  Bishop  England  to  the 
Council  of  Baltimore  as  theologian.  In  1836,  re- 
moving to  New  York,  he  was  for  some  time  as- 
sistant pastor  at  the  Cathedral  and  afterwards 
pastor  of  St.  James'  Church.  In  1841  Archbishop 
Hughes  sent  Father  Byrne  on  a  mission  to  Ire- 
land for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  community  of 
Christian  Brothers  to  teach  in  the  parochial 
schools  of  New  York.  Owing  to  the  heavy  de- 
mand and  scarcity  of  teachers  at  the  time  his 
endeavors  proved  unsuccessful.  After  his  return 
to  this  country  he  was  made  pastor  of  the  Church 
of  the  Nativity  in  New  York  City,  and  March  19, 
1841,  established  the  Church  of  St.  Andrew  in 
the  same  city. 

During  the  various  pastoral  duties  which 
Father  Byrne  filled  both  in  Charleston  and  New 
York,  he  was  noted  for  his  devotion  to  duty  and 
earnest  labors.     In  1844  he  was  appointed  first 


3o8  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Bishop  of  Little  Rock,  which  embraced  the  State 
of  Arkansas  and  the  Cherokee  and  Choctaw  Na- 
tions, in  the  Indian  Territory.  He  was  conse- 
crated in  the  Cathedral  of  New  York  by  Arch- 
bishop Hughes,  March  10,  1844.  Proceeding  to 
his  diocese  his  missionary  duties  were  even  more 
arduous  than  his  former  labor  as  a  young  priest 
in  the  Carolinas.  While  on  his  visitations  he 
was  on  many  occasions  compelled  to  travel  a 
distance  of  one  thousand  miles  from  one  mission 
to  another.  He  twice  visited  Ireland  to  obtain 
recruits  for  his  diocese  and  induce  the  tide  of  Eu- 
ropean emigration  to  the  Southwest. 

In  1845  he  opened  an  academy  in  Little  Rock 
in  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  and  the  next 
year  attended  the  Council  of  Baltimore.  In  1856 
he  was  present  at  the  first  Provincial  Council  of 
New  Orleans.  The  growth  of  the  Church  in  the 
Southwest  during  his  episcopate  made  wonderful 
strides.  His  zeal  was  unceasing  and  his  labors 
widespread.  In  1843  only  four  churches  had  been 
established  in  his  vast  diocese.  In  1862  there 
were  seventeen  churches,  with  fifty  stations,  four 
religious  institutions  and  twelve  schools,  with  a 
Catholic  population  increased  from  5,000  to  over 
50,000.    He  died  in  Helena,  Ark.,  June  10,  1862. 

Patrick  Dillon 

BY  WILLIAM  HOYNES. 

Patrick  Dillon,  C.  S.  C,  educator,  was  born 
January  1,  1832,  in  County  Galway,  Ireland.  His 
parents  were  noted  for  piety,  industry  and  in- 
tegrity. They  were  in  easy  circumstances  and 
well  educated.  At  an  early  age  Patrick  was  en- 
tered as  a  pupil  in  the  local  parish  school.    His 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  309 

studies  tended  to  the  classics  as  a  preparation 
for  the  priesthood.  Actuated  by  an  outraged 
sense  of  patriotism  at  the  conditions  obtaining 
under  British  rule  in  Ireland,  the  Dillon  family 
immigrated  to  the  United  States  and  settled  in 
Illinois  while  Patrick  was  still  in  his  infancy. 
Sharing  the  patriotic  aspirations  of  his  parents, 
he  found  his  new  environments  agreeable  in  a 
land  of  freedom,  and  resumed  his  studies  with- 
out unnecessary  delay  in  St.  Mary's  College, 
Chicago. 

In  1856  he  determined  to  complete  his  theo- 
logical studies  at  the  University  of  Notre  Dame, 
located  at  Notre  Dame,  in  the  State  of  Indiana, 
some  eighty-six  miles  east  of  Chicago.  To  this 
end  he  became  a  member  of  the  Congregation  of 
Holy  Cross,  under  whose  auspices  the  university 
is  conducted.  While  prosecuting  his  ecclesias- 
tical studies  at  Notre  Dame,  he  served  inciden- 
tally in  the  capacity  of  steward,  doing  so  with 
such  signal  ability  as  to  attract  the  attention  and 
win  the  appreciation  of  all  concerned.  In  1858 
he  finished  most  creditably  his  sacerdotal  studies 
and  was  ordained  priest.  His  conspicuous  abil- 
ity in  administrative  lines  marked  him  as  a  suit- 
able candidate  for  the  vice-presidency  of  the  uni- 
versity, to  which  position  he  was  chosen  the 
same  year.  He  held  this  office  by  annual  reap- 
pointment until  1865,  when  he  was  chosen  presi- 
dent, succeeding  the  Very  Rev.  Edward  Sorin, 
its  founder  and  first  president.  His  strong  com- 
mon sense  and  practical  knowledge  of  affairs 
united  to  make  his  administration  exceptionally 
successful.  The  number  of  students  increased 
apace,  and  a  new  college  building  strikingly 
artistic,  commodious,  and  attractive,  was  erected 
under  his  management.     He  provided  also  for 


3IO  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

broadening  the  scope  and  raising  the  standard 
of  studies.  Moreover,  he  added  to  the  curriculum 
a  commercial  department  and  more  clearly 
marked  out  and  defined  the  scientific  course. 

In  1866,  however,  his  health  became  seri- 
ously impaired  through  overwork.  He  was  thus 
constrained  to  seek  rest  and  relinquish  his  office, 
in  which  he  was  succeeded  by  the  Very  Rev. 
William  Corby,  famous  as  chaplain  of  Meagher's 
Irish  Brigade  in  the  Civil  War.  The  same  year 
he  accompanied  Father  Sorin  as  a  delegate  to 
the  general  chapter  of  the  Congregation,  then 
held  at  the  branch  college  in  Neuilly,  adjacent  to 
Paris,  France.  In  the  course  of  the  deliberations 
of  this  body,  Father  Sorin  was  elected  Superior 
General  of  the  Congregation,  and  Father  Dillon 
was  chosen  Assistant  Superior  General.  He  re- 
mained in  France  until  1868,  when  his  health  ap- 
peared to  be  much  improved.  About  this  time 
he  was  invited  by  the  Bishop  of  Chicago  to  as- 
sume the  pastorate  of  St.  Patrick's  Church.  Find- 
ing that  he  could  be  spared  from  Notre  Dame, 
and  cherishing  the  hope  that  closer  proximity 
to  his  relatives  in  Chicago,  with  a  change  of  work 
and  environments,  would  prove  conducive  to  his 
health,  he  accepted  the  call. 

Vain  such  hope,  however,  for  his  illness  re- 
turned in  aggravated  form  under  the  cares  and 
duties  devolving  upon  him  in  his  new  sphere  of 
labor.  Nevertheless,  he  struggled  on  and  re- 
sisted with  unabated  courage  and  fortitude  the 
inroads  of  the  fatal  disease  contracted  through 
overwork.  The  end  came  resignedly  and  peace- 
fully Sunday  evening,  November  15,  1868.  His 
remains  were  taken  to  Notre  Dame  for  interment 
and  laid  away,  side  by  side,  with  those  of  his  de- 
ceased brother,  Rev.  James  Dillon,  who  had  been 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  311 

a  Civil  War  chaplain,  in  the  presence  of  students, 
professors,  and  religious,  standing-  with  uncov- 
ered heads  on  the  snow-covered  ground  of  the 
community  cemetery.  Thus  passed  away,  at  the 
age  of  thirty-six,  a  most  gifted  and  promising 
scholar,  priest,  and  college  president.  His  large 
stature  and  striking  presence  served  to  empha- 
size the  manifest  and  unquestioned  strength  and 
resourcefulness  of  his  mental  endowments. 

John  Quinlan 

John  Quinlan,  R.  C.  bishop,  was  born  in 
Cloyne,  County  Cork,  October  19,  1826.  At  the 
age  of  eighteen  he  came  to  the  United  States  and 
was  educated  for  the  priesthood  at  Mount  St. 
Mary's  of  the  West,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  at  Em- 
mitsburg,  Md.  He  was  ordained  priest  by  Arch- 
bishop Purcell,  in  1853,  and  after  performing  mis- 
sionary duties  at  Piqua  and  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  fie 
was  appointed  superior  of  the  College  of  Mount 
St.  Mary's  of  the  West.  On  the  death  of  Bishop 
Portier  he  was  appointed  to  the  vacant  See  of 
Mobile,  and  was  consecrated  in  New  Orleans  by 
Archbishop  Blanc,  December  4,  1859.  Taking 
possession  of  his  see  a  few  days  afterwards  he 
was  installed  in  the  Cathedral  of  Mobile.  Upon 
making  his  first  visitation,  he  visited  Europe  in 
1860,  and  returned  to  his  diocese  with  a  number 
of  ecclesiastical  students. 

The  Civil  war  brought  many  troubles  to  the 
bishop  and  in  a  pastoral  he  asked  the  clergy  and 
people  to  pray  for  peace.  After  the  battle  of 
Shiloh  he  ministered  to  the  wounded  soldiers  of 
both  armies.  He  visited  the  Northern  states  at 
the  close  of  the  war  to  raise  funds  for  his  diocese, 
and  In  1869  attended  the  Vatican  Council.     He 


312  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

introduced  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  and  Sisters 
of  Mercy  into  the  diocese,  restored  many- 
churches,  and  estabHshed  numerous  schools.  He 
died  in  New  Orleans,  March  9,  1883. 

Tobias  Mullen 

Tobias  Mullen,  R.  C.  bishop,  was  born  in 
County  Tyrone,  March  4,  1818.  He  was  edu- 
cated at  Castlefin  school  and  at  the  College  of 
Maynooth,  where  he  received  minor  orders.  He 
came  to  the  United  States  with  Bishop  O'Con- 
nor of  Pittsburg,  in  1843,  completed  his  theolog- 
ical studies,  and  was  ordained  priest  September 
1,  1844.  He  held  numerous  pastorates  in  the 
diocese  of  Pittsburg;  was  rector  of  St.  Peter's 
Church,  Allegheny,  in  1854;  vicar  general  of  the 
diocese,  1864-68,  and  consecrated  Bishop  of  Erie, 
Pa.,  August  2,  1868.  Under  his  rule  many 
churches  were  erected,  and  schools  and  acade- 
mies established.  In  1898,  after  thirty  years'  la- 
bor in  the  diocese,  he  was  given  a  coadjutor.  He 
died  in  Erie,  Pa.,  April  22,  1900. 

Clement  Smyth 

Clement  Smyth,  R.  C.  bishop,  was  born  at 
Finlea,  near  Killaloe,  County  Clare,  January  24, 
1810.  His  education  was  received  at  Limerick 
and  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin.  After  complet- 
ing his  college  course  he  entered  a  Presentation 
Convent  at  Youghal.  Feeling  inclined  to  a  more 
retired  life  he  subsequently  entered  the  Trappist 
Monastery  of  Mount  Melleray,  in  County  Water- 
ford.  Here  he  established  a  school  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  poor  children  of  the  district,  under 
the  charge  of  the  monastery,  which  he  also  con- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  313 

ducted.  Having  completed  his  thelogical  studies 
he  was  ordained  priest  in  1844,  When  the  great 
famine  swept  over  Ireland  the  order  at  Mount 
Melleray  selected  Father  Smyth  to  emigrate  to 
this  country  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  part 
of  their  community  in  America.  He  arrived  in 
New  York  in  the  spring  of  1849,  and  after  visit- 
ing several  places  in  the  United  States  and  Can- 
ada, he  was  offered  a  tract  of  land  in  Dubuque 
County,  Iowa,  by  Bishop  Loras.  Here  Father 
Smyth  founded  the  Monastery  of  New  Melleray, 
of  which  he  became  prior.  A  school  was  after- 
wards built  and  a  church  erected  in  connection 
with  the  m.onastery. 

He  was  appointed  coadjutor  to  Bishop  Loras 
of  Dubuque  and  May  3,  1857,  was  consecrated 
in  St.  Louis.  He  was  also  made  administrator 
of  the  diocese  of  Chicago  the  next  year.  On  the 
death  of  Bishop  Loras  in  1858  he  succeeded  to 
the  See  of  Dubuque.  During  his  short  episco- 
pate he  increased  the  number  of  churches  from 
fifty  to  eighty  and  organized  the  Society  of  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul  throughout  the  diocese.  He 
died  in  Dubuque,  Iowa,  September  23,  1865. 

Edward  Barron 

Edward  Barron,  R.  C.  bishop  and  vicar- 
apostolic  of  Liberia,  brother  of  Sir  Henry  W. 
Barron  of  Waterford,  was  born  in  Ireland  in 
1801.  He  was  a  student  of  the  College  of  the 
Propaganda  in  Rome,  where  he  was  ordained 
and  received  the  degree  of  D.  D.  Returning  to 
Ireland,  he  performed  missionary  duties  there 
for  some  time,  when  he  came  to  the  United 
States.  After  many  years  of  service  in  the  dio- 
cese   of    Philadelphia, — pastor    of    St.    Mary's 


314  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Church,  president  of  the  Theological  Seminary 
of  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  and  vicar-general  of 
the  diocese, — he  went  to  Liberia  in  1841,  with 
Rev.  John  Kelly  of  New  York,  to  labor  among 
the  native  Africans  of  that  country.  He  was 
made  Bishop  of  Eucarpia  and  vicar-apostolic  of 
the  two  Guineas  in  1843,  but  after  most  of  his 
priests  had  succumbed  to  fever,  with  the  remain- 
ing survivors  prostrated  by  the  climate,  the  mis- 
sion was  confined  to  a  religious  order  and  he  re- 
turned to  this  country. 

He  performed  missionary  duties  in  Philadel- 
phia, St.  Louis,  and  in  Florida,  and,  when  he 
learned  of  the  yellow  fever  pestilence  in  Savan- 
nah, regardless  of  his  feeble  health,  he  hastened 
to  the  aid  of  Bishop  Gartland.  He  contracted 
the  fever  himself  and  died  September  12,  1854. 
In  1867  the  remains  of  Bishops  Barron,  Gart- 
land, and  Barry  were  reinterred  in  the  Catholic 
cemetery  of  Savannah. 

Francis  Moylan 

Francis  Moylan,  R.  C.  bishop,  was  born  in 
the  city  of  Cork,  September  17,  1735.  He  was 
educated  at  Paris,  at  Montpellier,  and  afterwards 
at  the  University  of  Toulouse,  where  he  became 
acquainted  with  Henry  Essex  Edgeworth,  then 
a  boy.  Moylan  and  Edgeworth  became  lifelong 
friends.  After  his  ordination  to  the  priesthood, 
in  1761,  Father  Moylan  remained  in  Paris  a 
short  time,  when  he  returned  to  Ireland,  and  in 
1755  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Kerry.  In  1786 
he  was  transferred  to  the  bishopric  of  Cork.  Like 
many  Catholic  clergymen  who  had  been  edu- 
cated abroad,  in  whom  the  horrors  of  war  had 
taken  deep  root,  he  opposed  any  participation 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  315 

on  the  part  of  his  people  in  co-operating  with  the 
French  fleet  when  it  appeared  off  the  south  coast 
of  Ireland  in  1796. 

At  the  Examining  Board  (composed  of  ten 
Irish  bishops)  convened  to  investigate  the  affairs 
of  Maynooth  College  in  1799,  Lord  Castlereagh 
suggested  that,  providing  they  would  admit  the 
king's  power  of  veto  on  all  future  ecclesiastical 
appointments,  the  government  would  recom- 
mend Catholic  Emancipation  and  a  state  endow- 
ment for  the  Catholic  clergy.  Castlereagh's 
plans  were  repudiated  and  in  the  subsequent  con- 
troversy Moylan  took  a  leading  part.  He  depre- 
cated any  interference  whatever  of  the  govern- 
ment in  appointment  of  bishops  or  clergy. 
Bishop  Moylan  was  a  most  successful  adminis- 
trator of  his  diocese  and  aided  in  establishing 
the  Presentation  Order  of  Nuns  founded  by 
Nano  Nagle  for  the  education  of  poor  girls.  He 
died  February  10,  1815.  He  was  the  brother  of 
Stephen  Moylan,  brigadier-general  in  the  Ameri- 
can army  during  the  revolutionary  war  and  aide- 
de-camp  to  George  Washington. 

John  Thomas  Troy 

John  Thomas  Troy,  R.  C.  archbishop,  was 
born  in  Porterstown,  near  Dublin,  May  10,  1739. 
At  fifteen  he  left  Ireland  to  study  in  Rome,  where 
he  joined  the  Dominican  Order,  in  1756,  and  sub- 
sequently was  made  rector  of  St.  Clement's  in 
that  city.  In  1776  he  was  consecrated  Bishop  of 
Ossory,  at  Louvain,  by  the  Archbishop  of  Mech- 
lin. On  the  death  of  Dr.  Carpenter,  in  1784,  he 
was  elevated  to  the  See  of  Dublin.  In  1809  Dr. 
Murray  was  appointed  his  coadjutor,  with  right 
of  succession  to  the  See  of  Dublin,  but  Arch- 


3l6  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

bishop  Troy  continued  for  many  years  to  dis- 
charge the  duties  of  his  office.  In  1815  he  laid 
the  foundation  of  the  pro-cathedral  in  Dublin, 
though  he  did  not  Hve  to  see  it  completed.  He 
died  in  Dublin,  May  11,  1823,  and  his  remains 
were  the  first  laid  within  the  walls  of  the  cathe- 
dral he  had  built.  In  the  administration  of  his 
archdiocese  and  in  private  life.  Dr.  Troy  was 
eminently  zealous,  pious,  and  charitable.  He  left 
funds  scarcely  enough  to  meet  the  expenses  of 
his  burial. 

From  the  commencement  of  his  episcopate 
he  discouraged  all  hostility  against  the  govern- 
ment. Among  the  Irish  prelates.  Archbishop 
Troy  was  the  most  pronounced  in  extending  his 
influence  towards  the  completion  of  the  Legisla- 
tive Union  and  other  measures  favorable  to  Brit- 
ish rule  in  Ireland.  In  1798  he  spoke  against  the 
rebellion,  "believing  that  Catholic  Emancipation 
would  be  forthcoming  by  a  display  of  pacific 
methods  and  adherence  to  the  Crown." 

Nicholas  French 

Nicholas  French,  R.  C.  Bishop  of  Ferns,  pub- 
licist, and  politician,  was  born  in  Wexford  in 
1604.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  prom- 
ising pupils  of  the  Irish  College  of  Louvain. 
After  receiving  orders,  he  returned  to  Wexford 
as  a  parish  priest.  He  was  consecrated  Bishop 
of  Ferns  in  1643,  and  in  1645  was  returned  as 
burgess  for  Wexford  to  the  Confederate  Parlia- 
ment of  Kilkenny,  where  learning,  zeal,  and  en- 
thusiasm before  long  made  him  a  prominent 
member.  He  was  elected  to  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil of  the  Confederates,  where  he  was  the  ruling, 
the  animating,  and  the  guiding  spirit.    No  period 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  317 

of  Irish  history  is  more  thickly  studded  with  ex- 
citing and  complicated  events  than  during  those 
times.  Throughout  this  stirring  epoch,  Bishop 
French  was  a  constant  and  a  prominent  actor. 
In  1651  he  formed  one  of  the  deputation  sent  to 
urge  the  Duke  of  Lorraine  to  put  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  Irish  Catholics.  The  negotiations 
with  the  duke  came  to  naught,  and  as  Ireland 
was  then  in  the  throes  of  the  Cromwellian  inva- 
sion, the  bishop  remained  upon  the  continent. 

He  acted  for  a  short  time  as  coadjutor  bishop 
in  Paris,  and  then  traveled  in  different  parts  of 
the  continent,  and  at  last  found  a  home  with  the 
Archbishop  of  Santiago,  in  Spain.  There  he 
composed  his  Latin  work,  "Lucubrations  of  the 
Bishop  of  Ferns  in  Spain."  After  the  Restora- 
tion, a  long  correspondence  ensued  between  him 
and  Father  Walsh  on  behalf  of  Ormond,  rela- 
tive to  his  return  to  Ireland,  which  ended  in 
1665,  with  the  following  words :  "I  am  resolved 
.  .  .  to  go  to  Louvain,  and  there  end  my  days 
where  I  began  my  studies."  From  Louvain  he 
scattered  over  the  continent  numerous  tracts  re- 
lating to  Irish  affairs,  and  there  he  endowed  a 
bourse  of  180  florins  a  year  for  the  diocese  of 
Ferns.  He  died  at  Ghent,  August  23,  1678,  and 
was  interred  there  in  the  cathedral. 

Among  his  numerous  works  are:  "A  Nar- 
rative of  the  Sale  and  Settlement  of  Ireland," 
Louvain,  1668;  "The  Bleeding  Iphigenia,"  1674: 
and  "The  Unkind  Deserter  of  Loyal  Men  ancT 
True  Friends,"  Paris,  1676.  The  last  refers  to 
the  Marquis  of  Ormond.  A  collected  edition  of 
the  most  important  of  Bishop  French's  works 
was  published  in  two  volumes  at  Dublin  in  1846, 
with  a  valuable  "History  of  the  Irish  College  of 
Louvain"  prefixed.     A  perusal  of  his  works  is 


3i8  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

important  for  all  students  of  the  history  of  the 
war  of  1641-52. 

James  Archer 

James  Archer,  R.  C.  clergyman,  was  born  in 
Kilkenny,  about  1550.  He  entered  the  Society  of 
Jesus  at  Rome  in  1581;  was  professed  of  the 
four  vows  in  Spain,  and  became  the  first  rector 
of  the  Irish  College  at  Salamanca.  Father  Archer 
was  a  great  promoter  of  education,  and  was 
greatly  beloved  by  his  countrymen,  with  whom 
he  possessed  great  influence.  He  became  fa- 
mous as  a  missionary  in  Ireland  during  the 
struggle  between  Hugh  O'Neill  and  Queen  Eliza- 
beth.   He  died  in  Spain,  about  1620. 

Florence  Conroy 

Florence  Conroy,  R.  C.  archbishop,  was  born 
in  Galway  in  1560.  At  an  early  age  he  was  sent 
to  college  in  the  Netherlands,  and  afterwards 
to  Spain,  where  he  entered  the  Franciscan  order, 
and  distinguished  himself  as  a  student  of  St. 
Augustine's  works.  His  defense  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception  enhanced  his 
fame,  and  attracted  the  notice  of  King  Philip  II. 
of  Spain.  In  1588  he  was  appointed  Provincial 
of  the  Franciscans  in  Ireland,  and  embarked  in 
the  Spanish  Armada.  We  have  few  particulars 
of  his  adventures  in  that  expedition,  although 
he  wrote  a  tract  in  reference  to  it,  ''Peregrinus 
Jerichontinus."  In  1593  he  published  a  cate- 
chism in  Irish  (a  translation  of  a  Spanish  work), 
"A  Christian  Instruction."  In  1602  he  met  Hugh 
Roe  O'Donnell,  and  acted  as  his  chaplain  diiring 
the  last  hours  of  that  chieftain  at  Simancas,  fol- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  319 

lowing  his  remains  to  their  resting  place  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Valladolid. 

Although  he  was  appointed  Archbishop  of 
Tuam  in  1610,  the  proscription  of  Catholicity  in 
Ireland  prevented  his  ever  taking  possession  of 
his  see.  Through  his  exertions  and  his  influence 
with  Philip  IL,  the  Irish  College  at  Louvain  was 
founded  in  1616, — an  institution  which  after- 
wards became  celebrated  for  the  distinguished 
Irishmen  connected  with  it,  and  the  Irish  works 
that  issued  from  its  press.  His  latter  years  were 
occupied  in  the  publication  of  works  on  St. 
Augustine  and  his  writings.  He  died  November 
18,  1629,  in  one  of  the  Franciscan  convents  at 
Madrid.  His  remains  were  transferred  in  1654 
to  the  Louvain  College,  where  they  repose  under 
a  marble  monument.  He  was  the  author  of  many 
works  in  Latin. 

John  Norris 

Sir  John  Norris,  admiral,  was  born  in  Ire- 
land about  the  year  1674.  In  July,  1690,  he  was 
appointed  to  command  the  Pelican,  in  recogni- 
tion of  his  gallant  behavior  as  lieutenant  at  the 
engagement  off  Beachy  Head.  In  March,  1707, 
he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  rear-admiral  of 
the  Blue.  During  the  same  year  he  served  under 
Sir  Cloudesley  Shovel  in  the  Mediterranean  and 
was  actively  engaged  in  the  abortive  attack  upon 
Toulon.  After  having  been  advanced  to  be  vice- 
admiral  of  the  White,  in  1708  he  became  vice- 
admiral  of  the  Red,  and  a  few  months  afterwards 
admiral  of  the  Blue.  His  supposed  ill-luck  in 
the  matter  of  weather  procured  for  him  the  ap- 
pellation of  "Foul-Weather  Jack."  In  1717  he 
was  envoy  extraordinary  to  the  Czar.     At  the 


320  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

time  of  his  death  he  represented  Rye  in  parlia- 
ment. He  was  the  oldest  admiral  in  the  British 
navy,  having  seen  sixty  years'  service.  He  died 
June  13,  1749. 

James  Arthur 

James  Arthur,  R.  C.  clergyman,  born  in 
Limerick,  became  a  Dominican  in  the  Abbey  of 
St.  Stephen  in  Salamanca.  He  afterwards  was 
made  professor  of  divinity  in  the  university  there, 
but  lost  his  position  in  1642  for  refusing  to  sub- 
scribe to  the  doctrine  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception, and  retired  to  the  Convent  of  St.  Dom- 
inic at  Lisbon,  Portugal,  and  there,  according 
to  one  account,  died  February  1,  1644.  Ware 
says  that  he  survived  until  1670.  In  1655  his 
commentary  on  St.  Thomas  Acquinas  was  pub- 
lished, and  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  pre- 
paring a  work  on  the  latter  in  ten  volumes. 

Philip  Cosby 

Philip  Cosby,  admiral,  naval  officer,  was 
born,  probably  at  Stradbally,  in  1730.  He  was 
one  of  the  numerous  descendants  of  Francis 
Cosby,  who  rose  to  high  places  in  government 
employ.  He  entered  the  navy  early,  and  from 
the  first  saw  much  service.  General  Wolfe  ap- 
pointed him  his  marine  aide-de-camp,  and  in  this 
capacity  he  served  with  the  general  until  his 
death  at  Quebec  in  1759.  His  naval  services  are 
fully  set  out  by  Ryan  in  his  "Worthies  of  Ire- 
land." In  1774  he  succeeded  his  cousin.  Baron 
Sidney  of  Leix,  in  the  family  estates.  In  1788 
he  satisfactorily  concluded  a  treaty  with  the  Em- 
peror of  Morocco  on  behalf  of  Great  Britain,  and 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  321 

in  1794,  as  vice-admiral  of  the  Red,  he  was  pres- 
ent at  the  capture  of  Corsica  and  Toulon.  In 
1805  he  rose  to  be  admiral  of  the  Red.  He  died 
at  Bath,  January  10,  1808,  and  was  there  buried 
in  the  Abbey  Church. 

Joseph  S.  Coyne 

Joseph  StirHng  Coyne  was  born  at  Birr  in 
1805,  and  received  his  education  at  Dungannon 
school.  He  was  intended  for  the  bar,  but  ulti- 
mately devoted  himself  entirely  to  literature, 
chiefly  dramatic.  His  first  piece,  "The  Phrenol- 
ogist," was  produced  at  the  Theatre  Royal,  Dub- 
lin, in  1835.  Two  years  later  he  went  to  London 
and  became  a  voluminous  and  successful  dram- 
atist, chiefly  for  the  Haymarket  and  Adelphi.  He 
contributed  to  several  London  papers,  and,  with 
Mark  Lemon  and  Henry  Mayhew,  was  one  of 
the  projectors  and  original  contributors  to 
Punch.  Coyne  was  the  author  of  "The  Scenery 
and  Antiquities  of  Ireland,"  and  some  works  of 
fiction.    He  died  July  18,  1868. 

John  Barrett 

John  Barrett,  D.  D.,  educator  and  author, 
born  in  1763,  was  a  native  of  Ballyroan,  where 
his  father  held  a  curacy.  He  received  his  educa- 
tion at  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  becoming  finally 
vice-provost  and  professor  of  Oriental  languages 
in  that  university.  He  died,  very  wealthy,  No- 
vember 15,  1821,  leaving  most  of  his  property 
for  charitable  purposes.  His  principal  works  are 
an  edition  of  the  gospel  of  St.  Mathew  from  a 
manuscript  in  the  library  of  Trinity  College,  Dub- 
lin; "An  Inquiry  into  the  Origin  of  the  Constel- 


322  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

lations  that  Compose  the  Zodiac,"  1800;  and  an 
essay  on  the  earlier  part  of  the  Hfe  of  Dean 
Swift,  with  several  original  pieces  ascribed  to 
him,  1808.  The  last  work  is  incorporated  in  the 
collected  edition  of  Swift's  works. 

During  the  last  fifty  years  of  his  life  Dr. 
Barrett  hardly  ever  left  the  college, — occupying 
an  attic  in  the  Library  Square,  allowing  himself 
little  light  and  no  fire,  but  frequently  stealing 
down  in  cold  weather  to  the  college  kitchen  to 
warm  himself.  His  singular  life  was  spent  in 
philosophic  seclusion,  devoted  to  his  two  absorb- 
ing passions, — "omnivorous  reading  and  the 
most  assiduous  hoarding  of  money," — the  latter 
habit  being  probably  induced  by  the  great  priva- 
tions and  extreme  poverty  of  his  early  life.  Yet 
he  was  a  man  of  strictest  honesty  and  it  is  said 
that  he  was  never  known  to  commit  a  dishonor- 
able action.  He  was,  however,  accustomed  to 
vent  his  strong  feelings  by  indulging  in  profan- 
ity till  it  became  an  unconscious  habit,  but  he 
was  ever  ready  to  do  kind  actions,  providing  he 
was  not  called  on  to  give  money,  and  though 
curiously  ignorant  of  many  of  the  most  ordinary 
affairs  of  life,  his  mind  was  a  perfect  storehouse 
of  strange,  out-of-the-way  knowledge,  and  his 
memory  so  marvelous  that  he  could  retain  almost 
everything  he  had  ever  seen,  read,  or  heard. 
Many  very  amusing  tales  are  told  of  his  eccen- 
tricities and  absence  of  mind  concerning  ordinary 
matters. 

Edward  Hay 

Edward  Hay  was  born  about  1761,  in  Bal- 
linkeel,  County  Wexford,  descended  from  an  old 
Anglo-Norman  family  deprived  of  most  of  their 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  323 

property  for  embracing  the  cause  of  James  II. 
He  was  active  in  the  cause  of  the  CathoHcs,  both 
before  and  after  the  Legislative  Union.  Al- 
though he  took  no  active  part  in  the  insurrec- 
tion of  1798,  he  narrowly  escaped  hanging, — his 
successful  efforts  to  mitigate  the  sufferings  of 
the  Royalists  during  the  occupation  of  Wexford 
causing  suspicion  to  center  on  him  as  a  person 
of  influence  among  the  insurgents. 

He  was  for  many  years  secretary  to  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland  in  their  efforts  for  emanci- 
pation. We  are  told  that  he  died  in  poverty  at 
Dublin  in  October,  1826,  and  was  buried  in  St. 
James'  churchyard.  He  was  the  author  of  a 
book  relating  to  the  insurrection  of  1798, — the 
"History  of  the  Rebellion  in  Ireland."  John 
Hay,  his  brother,  once  a  lieutenant  in  the  Irish 
brigade  in  France,  was  executed  on  Wexford 
bridge  in  1798  for  complicity  in  the  insurrection, 
while  another  brother,  Philip,  rose  to  be  a  lieu- 
tenant-general in  the  British  service,  dying  at 
Lambeth,  August  8,  1856. 

Flann  Mainistrech 

Flann  Mainistrech  was  a  chief  professor  of 
the  school  of  St.  Buite,  at  Monasterboice,  in  the 
11th  century.  He  was  born  in  Munster.  "Of 
Flann's  private  life  or  history,  nothing  remains 
to  us;  of  his  public  life  we  have  on  record  the 
fact  of  his  having  risen  to  the  highest  position 
in  the  profession  of  learning,  .  .  .  and  we  have 
evidence  of  his  great  celebrity  in  after  ages  in 
the  high  compliment  paid  to  him  by  the  Four 
Masters  in  the  following  entry  of  his  death: 
*A.  D.  1056,  Flann  of  the  Monastery,  chief  pro- 
fessor of  St.  Buite's  monastery,  the  wise  master 


324  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

of  the  Gaedhils  in  literature,  history,  philosophy, 
and  poetry,  died.'  "  "Flann  compiled  very  exten- 
sive historical  synchronisms,  w^hich  have  been 
much  respected  by  some  of  the  most  able  modern 
writers  on  early  Irish  history." 

O'Curry  gives  a  lengthened  analysis  of  his 
numerous  poems,  and  writes  as  follows  of  some 
of  them:  *'They  are  precisely  the  documents 
that  supply  life  and  the  reality  of  details  to  the 
blank  dryness  of  our  skeleton  pedigrees.  Many 
a  name  lying  dead  in  our  genealogical  tracts,  and 
which  has  found  its  way  into  our  evidently  con- 
densed chronicles  and  annals,  will  be  found  in 
these  poems,  connected  with  the  death,  or  asso- 
ciated with  the  brilliant  deeds,  of  some  hero 
whose  story  we  would  not  willingly  lose;  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  many  an  obscure  historical 
allusion  will  be  illustrated,  and  many  a  historical 
spot  as  yet  unknown  to  the  topographer  will  be 
identified,  when  a  proper  investigation  of  these 
and  other  great  historical  poems  preserved  in  the 
'Book  of  Leinster'  shall  be  undertaken  as  part  of 
the  serious  study  of  the  history  and  antiquities 
of  our  country." 

Francis  Fowke 

Francis  Fowke  was  born  at  Belfast  in  1823. 
After  studying  in  the  Military  College,  Wool- 
wich, he,  in  1842,  obtained  a  commission  in  the 
Engineers,  and  was  ordered  to  Bermuda.  He 
soon  distinguished  himself,  and  on  his  return 
home  superintended  the  erection  of  several  gov- 
ernment buildings,  the  Industrial  Museum,  Edin- 
burgh; the  National  Gallery,  Dublin;  the  Lon- 
don Exhibition  buildings  of  1862,  and  others.  He 
had  just  commenced  the  South  Kensington  Mu- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  325 

seum,  when  he  died  from  the  bursting  of  a  blood- 
vessel, December  3,  1865.  The  plan  of  the  Al- 
bert Hall,  London,  was  based  upon  his  suggested 
designs.  Besides  his  architectural  labors,  he 
made  important  improvements  in  fire-engines, 
traveling  scaffolds,  and  collapsing  pontoons. 


John  Bermingham 

Sir  John  Bermingham,  Earl  of  Louth.  He 
inherited  large  estates  from  his  ancestors,  who 
came  over  to  Ireland  with  Strongbow.  In  1318 
he  was  appointed  general  of  the  Anglo-Irish 
forces  raised  to  check  the  advance  of  Edward 
Bruce.  The  memorable  battle  that  ensued,  and 
which  resulted  in  the  death  of  Bruce  at  the  hands 
of  John  de  Maupas,  an  Anglo-Irish  knight,  and 
the  overthrow  of  his  army,  was  fought  at  Faug- 
hart,  near  Dundalk,  October  14,  1318.  Sir  John 
sent  Bruce's  head  to  King  Edward  II.,  and  was 
for  his  services  created  Earl  of  Louth,  and 
granted  estates  at  Ardee.  Next  year  we  find  him 
marching  into  Connaught  against  the  O'Conors 
and  MacKellys. 

In  1321  he  was  appointed  Lord-Justice,  and 
in  1322  conducted  a  force  of  300  men-at-arms, 
1,000  hobellars,  and  6,000  foot  into  England,  to 
aid  the  king  against  the  Scots.  In  1325  he 
founded  a  Franciscan  friary  at  Monasteroris  (so 
called  from  his  Irish  name,  MacFeorais).  June 
10,  1329,  he  fell,  with  200  of  his  kindred  and  re- 
tainers, at  Braganstown,  County  Louth,  in  a  feud 
with  the  Gernons,  Verdons,  and  others  of  the 
ancient  Anglo-Irish  families  of  Louth.  He  was 
undoubtedly  the  ablest  Anglo-Irish  leader  of  his 
day. 


326  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

John  Doyle 

Sir  John  Doyle,  soldier,  was  born  in  Dublin 
in  1756,  and  was  educated  at  Trinity  College. 
In  1775  he  embarked  as  lieutenant  with  the  40th 
regiment  for  America,  where  he  greatly  distin- 
guished himself,  and  was  several  times  wounded. 
For  some  time  he  was  captain  of  the  "Volunters 
of  Ireland,"  on  the  Royalist  side.  At  the  com- 
mencement of  the  French  war  in  1793,  he  raised 
a  regiment,  subsequently  numbered  as  the  87th, 
and  served  under  the  Duke  of  York  in  the  cam- 
paign of  1794,  as  lieutenant-colonel.  He  was 
afterwards  appointed  colonel  of  the  87th,  and 
sent  in  command  of  a  secret  expedition  to 
Holland. 

Having  filled  the  office  of  secretary  of  war 
in  Ireland  under  the  short  vice-royalty  of  Lord 
FitzWilliam,  he  was  continued  in  that  position 
by  Lord  Camden.  As  a  member  of  the  Irish 
House  of  Commons,  he  sided  with  the  National 
party.  In  the  expedition  to  Egypt,  under  Aber- 
cromble,  in  1801,  he  showed  great  gallantry, 
leaving  a  sick  bed  and  riding  forty  miles  through 
the  desert  to  defend  Alexandria  against  General 
Menou.  After  residing  for  some  time  in  Naples 
for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  in  1804  he  was  ap- 
pointed Governor  of  Guernsey;  in  1805  was  cre- 
ated a  baronet,  and  in  1819  a  general.  He  died 
August  8,  1834. 

Benjamin  Lee  Guinness 

Sir  Benjamin  Lee  Guinness,  baronet,  born 
November  1,  1798,  was  an  opulent  brewer,  and 
M.  P.  for  Dublin  from  1865  until  his  death.  He 
is  best  remembered  as  the  restorer  of  St.  Pat- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  327 

rick's  Cathedral  (at  a  cost  which  some  have  esti- 
mated at  £130,000),  and  as  the  head  of  a  busi- 
ness firm  that  has  acquired  a  world-wide  reputa- 
tion. He  died  possessed  of  a  large  fortune,  and 
besides  several  mansions  in  and  near  Dublin,  was 
the  owner  of  a  beautiful  estate  at  Cong,  on  the 
shores  of  Lough  Corrib.  He  evinced  great  and 
practical  interest  in  Irish  archaeology  by  his  pres- 
ervation of  the  antiquarian  remains  upon  his 
large  estates.  He  died  May  19,  1868,  and  was 
buried  at  Mount  Jerome,  Dublin. 

George  Downing 

Sir  George  Downing,  baronet,  lawyer,  was 
born  in  Dublin  in  1624.  (His  father  emigrated  to 
New  England  in  1638,  where  he  represented 
Salem  in  the  General  Court,  1638-43.  His  mother 
was  a  sister  of  Governor  John  Winthrop.)  Re- 
turning to  England  in  1645,  the  young  man  be- 
came a  preacher  among  the  Independents,  then  a 
chaplain  to  one  of  Cromwell's  regiments,  and  in 
1653  was  appointed  commissary-general  to  the 
army  in  Scotland.  He  was  member  for  a  Scot- 
tish borough  in  1654  and  in  1656,  and  agent  in 
Holland  two  years  afterwards.  Becoming  a  Roy- 
alist, he  was  knighted  by  Charles  II.,  entered 
parliament,  and  was  again  envoy  to  Holland. 
There  he  caused  the  arrest,  transmission  to  Eng- 
land, and  consequent  execution  of  three  of  his 
former  companions  in  Cromwell's  government, 
who  had  been  judges  of  Charles  I. 

Through  his  agency  principally  the  New 
Netherlands  were  wrested  from  the  Dutch  and 
annexed  to  the  English  possessions  as  New  York. 
In  1663  he  was  created  a  baronet.  Sent  in  1671 
on  a  mission  to  Holland,  he  returned  before  com- 


328  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

pleting  his  errand  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  king, 
and  was  imprisoned  in  the  Tower,  but  was  again 
received  into  favor.  He  was  a  man  of  abiHty  and 
natural  aptitude  for  politics,  and  was  the  author 
of  some  tracts  on  state  affairs.  Downing  Street, 
in  London,  perpetuates  his  name,  and  his  grand- 
son, Sir  George,  founded  Downing  College,  Cam- 
bridge. He  died  at  East  Hatley,  Cambridge- 
shire, in  1684. 

Charles  C.  Chesney 

Charles  Cornwallis  Chesney,  colonel,  nephew 
of  General  F.  R.  Chesney,  was  born  at  Packolet, 
Ireland,  in  1826.  He  entered  the  Royal  Engi- 
neers as  second-lieutenant,  1845;  and  rose  to  be 
first-lieutenant  in  1846;  captain  in  1854;  lieu- 
tenant-colonel in  1868;  and  brevet-colonel  in 
1873.  An  eminent  writer  and  critic  on  military 
subjects,  his  principal  works  were:  "Campaigns 
in  Virginia  and  Maryland,"  1864-65;  "Waterloo 
Lectures,"  1868;  "MiHtary  Resources  of  Prussia 
and  France,"  1870;  "Essays  on  Modern  Military 
Biography,"  1874,  reprinted  mainly  from  the 
Edinburgh  Review,  to  which,  as  well  as  to  the 
weekly  and  daily  press,  he  was  a  large  contrib- 
utor. Predictions  in  his  "Waterloo  Lectures" 
were  singularly  fulfilled  in  the  war  of  1870-71, — 
as  to  the  enervating  effects  upon  France  of  a 
reliance  on  past  glories,  and  the  lax  preparation 
for  future  wars  were  induced  by  such  a  state  of 
public  feeling. 

Colonel  Chesney,  who  was  for  nearly  ten 
years  professor  of  military  history  at  the  Royal 
Military  and  the  Staff  Colleges,  and  at  the  time 
of  his  death  was  commanding  the  Royal  Engi- 
neers of  the  London  district,  died  March  19,  1876, 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  329 

from  the  effects  of  undue  exposure  to  cold  in 
the  exercise  of  his  duty.  He  was  a  man  greatly- 
beloved  in  private  life,  v^hile,  according  to  the 
Pall  Mall  Gazette,  the  United  Kingdom  "sus- 
tained the  loss  of  an  able,  useful,  and  conscien- 
tiously industrious  officer,  whose  conspicuous 
and  peculiar  merits  were  fully  understood  and 
appreciated  by  those  in  authority  over  him." 

Luke  Gardiner 

Luke  Gardiner,  Viscount  Mountjoy,  an  Irish 
statesman,  was  born  February  7,  1745.  He  for 
some  time  represented  County  Dublin  in  parlia-, 
ment,  was  a  privy-councillor,  and  colonel  of  the 
Dublin  Militia.  Both  in  1778  and  1781  he  intro- 
duced measures  of  Catholic  relief,  which  were 
partially  carried;  while  his  proposals  for  com- 
plete equality  were  successfully  opposed  by 
FitzGibbon  and  others.  In  1789  he  was  created 
Baron  Mountjoy,  and  six  years  afterwards  a  vis- 
count. Upon  the  insurrection  breaking  out  in 
Wexford  in  1798,  he  hastened  thither  at  the  head 
of  his  regiment  of  militia,  and  formed  a  portion 
of  General  Johnson's  army  that  took  part  in  the 
battle  of  New  Ross  on  the  5th  of  June.  Accord- 
ing to  Musgrave,  Lord  Mountjoy  fell  early  in  the 
engagement.  His  son,  the  second  viscount,  cre- 
ated Earl  of  Blessington,  took  as  his  second  wife 
the  well-known  authoress  of  that  name. 

John  Foster 

John  Foster,  Baron  Oriel,  last  speaker  of  the 
Irish  Parliament,  was  born  in  Ireland,  September 
28,  1740.  He  was  educated  in  Ireland,  and  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar,  but  early  devoted  himself  to 


330  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

political  life.  Entering  parliament  for  Dunleer 
in  1768,  he  was  appointed  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer in  1785,  and  in  1786  was  chosen  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Commons.  Bitterly  hostile  to 
the  measure  of  Union,  he  did  all  in  his  power  as 
Speaker  to  thwart  it,  and  was  presented  with  ad- 
dresses of  thanks  by  the  lord  mayor,  aldermen, 
and  council  of  Dublin.  He  declined  to  surrender 
the  mace  of  the  House  of  Commons,  declaring 
that  ''until  the  body  that  intrusted  it  to  his  keep- 
ing demanded  it,  he  would  preserve  it  for  them," 
and  it  is  now  held  by  his  descendants,  the  Mas- 
sareene  family. 

After  the  Union  he  entered  the  Imperial 
Parliament  for  Louth,  and  accepted  the  post  of 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  for  Ireland.  In 
July,  1821,  he  was  created  Baron  Oriel.  He  died 
at  his  seat  at  Collon,  in  Louth,  August  23,  1828. 
Although  not  eloquent,  Foster  had  a  calm,  clear, 
and  forcible  delivery.  He  took  a  somewhat  prom- 
inent part  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Imperial 
Parliament.  Two  of  his  speeches  in  the  Irish 
Parliament, — one  against  Catholic  Emancipa- 
tion, and  the  other  against  the  Union, — were 
printed  at  the  time  of  delivery,  and  enjoyed  a 
wide  circulation.  His  son  married  the  Viscount- 
ess Massareene,  and  assumed  her  surname  of 
Skeffington. 

Thomas  FitzMaurice 

Thomas  FitzMaurice,  Lord  of  Kerry,  was, 
according  to  Lodge,  "born  in  1502,  and  bred  a 
soldier  in  Milan,  Italy,  under  the  Emperors  of 
Germany."  After  considerable  difficulty  he  ob- 
tained possession  of  the  family  lands  and  title. 
He  was  in  favor  with  King  Edward  VI.  and 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  331 

Queen  Mary,  had  several  estates  granted  or 
confirmed  to  him,  and  he  sat  in  several  parlia- 
ments. In  1581,  however,  he  rose  in  rebellion, 
and  took  Adare  and  Lisconnell  castles.  Zouche, 
the  Governor  of  Cork,  marched  against  him,  and 
defeated  him  at  the  w^ood  of  Lisconnell,  w^here- 
upon  he  escaped  into  the  Galtee  mountains,  w^as 
reduced  to  great  distress,  and  sought  pardon. 
This  was  granted  through  the  intercession  of 
the  Earl  of  Ormond,  and  he  was  received  into 
favor  and  knighted  by  Sir  Henry  Sidney.  He 
died  at  Lixnaw,  December  16,  1590,  and  was 
buried  in  Bishop  Stack's  tomb  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Ardfert.  He  is  said  to  have  been  handsome 
and  athletic. 

John  D' Alton 

John  D'Alton,  genealogist  and  antiquarian, 
was  born  at  Bessville,  West  Meath,  in  1792.  He 
was  educated  at  Trinity  College,  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1813,  and  appointed  commissioner  of  the 
Loan  Fund  Board,  Dublin,  in  1835.  He  devoted 
himself  to  the  study  of  Irish  antiquities,  and  pub- 
lished ''Annals  of  Boyle,"  "Lives  of  the  Arch- 
bishops of  Dublin,"  ''History  of  the  County  of 
Dublin,"  "King  James'  Irish  Army  List,"  and 
other  standard  works, — valuable  contributions  to 
the  study  of  Irish  history  and  archaeology.  He 
was  for  many  years  a  contributor  to  the  Gentle- 
man's Masrazine.  Most  of  his  life  was  passed  in 
Dublin.    He  died  January  20,  1867. 

Louisa  Stuart  Costello 

Louisa  Stuart  Costello,  author,  was  born  in 
Ireland  in  1815.    She  commenced  her  literary  ca- 


332  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

reer  at  an  early  age  by  the  publication  of  a  vol- 
ume of  poems  that  attracted  the  attention  of 
Moore,  to  whom,  in  1835,  she  dedicated  her  first 
important  work,  "Specimens  of  the  Early  Poetry 
of  France."  She  soon  became  widely  known  as 
an  author  of  history,  travel,  romance,  and  poetry. 
Ainsworth  speaks  of  her  "exquisite  sense  of  the 
picturesque,  and  vivid  appreciation  of  local  his- 
torical association,  always  simple  and  unpretend- 
ing in  their  enunciation."  Perhaps  her  "Memoirs 
of  Eminent  Englishwomen"  (1844),  and  "Falls, 
Lakes,  and  Mountains  of  Wales"  (1845)  are  the 
best  known  of  her  works.  She  died  April  24, 
1870. 

Laurence  Esmond 

Sir  Laurence  Esmond,  Lord  Esmond,  de- 
scended from  an  ancient  Wexford  family,  was 
born  probably  in  the  second  half  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  In  1601-02  he  commanded  a  troop  of 
150  foot  and  horse,  was  knighted  by  Sir  Henry 
Sidney,  and  served  the  Queen  in  Connaught,  with 
Murrough  O'Flaherty  and  Sir  Theobald  Burke. 
In  1622,  being  major-general  of  all  the  king's 
Irish  forces,  he  was  raised  to  the  peerage  as 
Lord  Esmond.  During  one  of  his  campaigns 
in  Connaught,  he  fell  in  love  with  and  married 
a  beautiful  Catholic  lady,  the  sister  of  O'Fla- 
herty. After  the  birth  of  their  son  Thomas,  she 
carried  him  away  to  her  Connaught  relatives, 
so  that  he  might  be  reared  in  her  own  faith, 
whereupon  Lord  Esmond  entered  into  a  union 
with  Elizabeth,  granddaughter  of  the  ninth  Earl 
of  Ormond. 

Lord  Esmond  was  for  many  years  Governor 
of  Duncannon  fort,  on  the  Suir.  In  the  fourth 
book  of  Carte's  "Ormond"  will  be  found  full  par- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  333 

ticulars  of  his  negotiations  in  1644  with  the  duke 
regarding  the  custody  of  the  fort,  and  of  his 
ultimately  going  over  to  the  side  of  the  parlia- 
ment. He  died  March  26,  1646.  From  his  son, 
before  mentioned.  Sir  Thomas  Esmond,  a  gen- 
eral of  horse  in  the  armies  of  Charles  I.,  the  pres- 
ent Esmonds  of  Ballynastra,  County  Wexford, 
are  descended. 

Matthew  Keugh 

Matthew  Keugh,  Governor  of  Wexford  dur- 
ing its  occupation  by  the  insurgents  in  1798,  was 
born  in  Ireland  about  1744,  entered  the  army, 
served  during  the  American  war,  and  rose  to 
be  captain-lieutenant.  At  the  breaking  out  of 
the  insurrection  he  was  living  upon  his  property 
in  the  town  of  Wexford.  For  revolutionary  pro- 
clivities he  had  been  deprived  of  the  commission 
of  the  peace  in  1796.  His  appearance  is  thus  de- 
scribed by  Musgrave:  "He  was  about  five  feet 
nine  inches  high,  and  rather  robust.  His  counte- 
nance was  comely,  his  features  were  large  and 
indicative  of  an  active,  intelligent  mind.  Joined 
to  a  very  happy  and  persuasive  manner  of  ex- 
pressing himself,  he  had  an  engaging  address 
and  great  affability  of  manner." 

Upon  the  occupation  of  Wexford  by  the  in- 
surgents. May  30,  1798,  he  was  appointed  Mili- 
tary Governor  of  the  town.  Though  his  power 
was  much  limited  by  the  passions  and  prejudices 
of  the  people,  he  spared  no  endeavors  to  secure 
the  safety  of  such  of  the  Royalists  as  remained. 
But  he  was  not  able  to  prevent  the  piking  on 
the  bridge,  June  20,  of  many  of  the  Royalist  pris- 
oners, against  whom  charges  were  brought  of 
previous  wrongs  against  the  peasantry.     When 


334  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Wexford  was  reoccupied  by  the  military  two 
days  afterwards,  Captain  Keugh  and  others  of 
the  leaders  remained,  under  the  impression  that 
their  lives  would  be  spared.  He  was,  however, 
with  many  others  immediately  brought  to  a 
drumhead  trial. 

He  made  an  able  and  manly  defense,  **dur- 
ing  the  whole  of  which,"  says  Musgrave,  *'he  was 
cool  and  deliberate,  and  so  eloquent  and  pathetic 
as  to  excite  the  most  tender  emotions  in  the 
breasts  of  his  auditors."  Several  Royalist  wit- 
nesses testified  that  he  acted  on  all  occasions  with 
singular  humanity,  and  endeavored  to  prevent 
the  effusion  of  blood,  and  that  they  owed  their 
lives  to  his  active  interference.  He  was  executed 
on  the  bridge  on  the  25th  of  June, — suffering 
with  dignity  and  composure.  His  body  was 
thrown  into  the  river,  and  his  head  placed  on  the 
court  house. 

Bagenal  B.  Harvey 

Bagenal  Beauchamp  Harvey,  an  estated  gen- 
tleman in  County  Wexford,  and  a  barrister,  com- 
mander of  the  Wexford  insurgents  in  1798.  He 
was  born  about  1762,  was  educated  at  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  studied  at  the  Middle  Temple, 
and  was  called  to  the  bar  in  1782.  Madden  says 
that  before  the  insurrection  of  1798  he  "was  in 
tolerable  practice  as  a  barrister,  and  was  ex- 
tremely popular  with  all  parties.  He  was  high- 
spirited,  kind-hearted,  and  good-tempered,  fond 
of  society,  given  to  hospitality,  and  especially  es- 
teemed for  his  humane  and  charitable  disposition 
towards  the  poor."  He  resided  at  Bargy  Castle, 
and  when  the  insurgents  took  the  field,  in  May, 
1798,  in  the  north  of  the  county,  Harvey,  with 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  335 

his  friends  Colclough  and  FitzGerald,  was  im- 
mediately imprisoned  in  Wexford  on  suspicion. 

After  the  defeat  of  the  Royalists  at  the  Three 
Rocks,  Wexford  was  evacuated  by  the  small  gar- 
rison that  remained,  and  the  prisoners  were  on 
the  30th  of  May  released  by  the  inhabitants  and 
Harvey  was  appointed  commander  -  in  -  chief. 
Nearly  the  whole  of  County  Wexford  was  soon 
in  the  hands  of  the  insurgents,  and  it  was  neces- 
sary that  New  Ross  should  be  taken,  so  as  to 
open  communication  with  those  ready  to  rise  in 
other  counties.  Accordingly,  on  the  4th  of  June, 
the  Wexford  force,  under  Harvey  marched  out, 
and,  having  been  joined  by  a  contingent  from 
the  camp  at  Carrickbyrne,  they  concentrated  at 
Corbet  Hill  for  the  attack  on  New  Ross. 

At  first  the  insurgents  carried  all  before 
them,  drove  the  troops  from  their  intrenchments, 
through  the  town,  and  across  the  bridge  into 
County  Kilkenny.  Instead  of  following  up  their 
success,  as  regular  troops  would  have  done,  they 
allowed  the  British  soldiers  to  retrieve  their 
losses,  and  in  the  ensuing  battle  the  insurgents 
were  defeated  with  a  loss  of  2,500  men.  During 
the  battle  of  Ross,  Harvey  and  his  aide-de-camp, 
Gray,  a  Protestant  attorney,  spent  most  of  the 
day  on  a  neighboring  hill,  almost  inactive  spec- 
tators of  the  fight.  After  these  events  Harvey 
was  deposed  from  the  supreme  command,  and 
appointed  president  of  the  council  of  govern- 
ment. The  battle  of  Vinegar  Hill  was  lost  on 
the  21st  of  June,  and  the  next  day  Wexford  was 
reoccupied  by  the  king's  troops.  Harvey  and 
Colclough,  with  the  wife  of  the  latter,  took  ref- 
uge on  one  of  the  Saltee  Islands.  They  were 
pursued,  and  after  a  long  search  were  found  con- 
cealed in  a  cave,  disguised  as  peasants. 


336  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Harvey  was  tried  by  court-martial  and  exe- 
cuted on  Wexford  bridge  on  the  28th  of  June, 
with  Grogan,  Captain  Keugh,  governor  of  the 
city,  and  numbers  of  others.  He  met  his  fate 
reverently  and  bravely.  His  body  was  cast  into 
the  river  and  his  head  spiked  on  the  court  house. 
The  body  was  ultimately  recognized  by  some 
friends  and  buried  at  Mayglass,  a  few  miles 
south  of  Wexford.  A  bill  of  attainder  was  passed 
against  him,  but  his  property  was,  in  1829,  re- 
stored to  his  brother  James. 


David  Fitz James  De  Barry 

David  Fitzjames  De  Barry,  Viscount  Butte- 
vant,  a  descendant  of  the  same  family  as  Robert 
De  Barry,  a  Welsh-Norman  knight,  who  came 
to  Ireland  at  the  time  of  Strongbow,  and  his 
brother,  Gerald  De  Barry  (Giraldus  Cambren- 
sis),  the  distinguished  author  who  wrote  a  his- 
tory in  Latin  of  the  Norman  invasion  of  Ireland, 
was  born  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century.  He 
was  one  of  the  lords  of  Sir  John  Perrot's  parlia- 
ment in  1585,  but  afterwards  took  an  active  part 
with  the  Earl  of  Desmond.  Eventually  he  gave 
in  his  submission  to  Lord  Grey,  and  acknowl- 
edged a  debt  of  £500  to  the  Crown, — a  claim 
which  was  afterwards  granted  to  Florence  Mac- 
Carthy,  and  created  much  correspondence  and 
bickering.  In  1601  he  was  made  a  general  by  Sir 
George  Carew,  after  the  siege  of  Kinsale  saw 
considerable  service  in  Munster,  and  was  granted 
large  estates  in  Desmond,  forfeited  by  the  Mac- 
Carthys.  In  1615  he  was  appointed  one  of  the 
Council  for  Munster.  He  died  at  Barryscourt, 
near  Cork,  April  10,  1617. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  337 

David  FitzDavid  De  Barry 

David  FitzDavid  De  Barry,  Earl  of  Barry- 
more,  grandson  of  preceding,  a  posthumous 
child,  v^as  born  March,  1605.  At  the  age  of 
twelve  he  succeeded  to  the  estates  of  his  family, 
and  in  1621  married  Alice,  daughter  of  the  Earl 
of  Cork,  and  through  the  earl's  influence  was 
created  Earl  of  Barrymore.  When  the  war 
broke  out  in  1641,  he  held  to  the  English  side, 
and  garrisoned  his  castle  of  Shandon  with  about 
100  men;  being  offered  the  position  of  general  in 
the  Irish  army,  he  refused.  On  May  10,  1642,  he, 
with  Lord  Dungarvan,  took  the  castle  of  Bally- 
macpatrick  (now  Careysville),  held  by  his  grand- 
aunt,  a  MacCarthy,  rescued  a  large  number  of 
English  confined  therein,  and  killed  in  cold  blood 
the  whole  garrison, — about  fifty  men.  He  headed 
his  regiment  at  the  battle  of  Liscarroll  in  Sep- 
tember, 1642,  and  died  on  the  29th  of  the  same 
month,  probably  from  his  wounds,  or  from  the 
fatigues  of  campaigning.  He  was  buried  in  his 
father-in-law's  family  vault  at  Youghal.  He  was 
a  Protestant.  The  honors  of  the  family  became 
extinct  upon  the  death  of  Henry  Barry,  eighth 
Earl  of  Barrymore,  in  1824. 

Richard  Prendergast 

BY  EDWARD   F.  DUNNE 

Richard  Prendergast,  jurist,  was  born  in  Ire- 
land, November  8,  1854.  Perhaps  no  man  of  the 
Irish  race  in  America  achieved  so  much  in  so 
short  a  time  in  American  life,  and  had  a  brighter 
prospect  for  reaching  the  highest  places  in  the 
land  than  did  Richard  Prendergast  at  the  time 


338  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

of  his  untimely  death,  in  the  year  1899,  at  the 
early  age  of  forty-four. 

While  yet  engaged  in  his  father's  business, 
he  entered  St.  Ignatius  College  and  at  once  took 
first  place  in  every  class  during  the  whole  cur- 
riculum. He  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  at  the 
head  of  his  class,  in  the  year  1876. 

Possessed  of  a  wonderful  intellect,  a  hardy 
frame,  and  tireless  energy,  he  immediately  began 
to  attract  a  large  and  lucrative  clientele.  No 
young  man  of  his  age  at  the  Chicago  bar  was  so 
uniformly  successful  before  juries  and  courts. 
So  extraordinary  was  his  success  that  when  only 
twenty-eight  years  of  age  he  was  nominated  for 
the  county  bench  and  elected  by  a  decisive  ma- 
jority. He  at  once  raised  that  court  from  the 
position  of  a  subordinate  court  to  one  of  com- 
manding influence  in  the  city  of  Chicago. 

Owing  to  the  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  that 
court  in  many  matters  such  as  insolvency,  elec- 
tions and  special  assessments,  it  became,  under 
the  administration  of  Judge  Prendergast,  of  great 
and  extraordinary  power  and  influence,  and  when 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  was  assailed  in  supe- 
rior courts,  the  young  jurist  was  firm  in  the  as- 
sertion of  the  exclusive  powers  of  the  court,  and 
in  many  a  bitterly  litigated  controversy  its  juris- 
diction was  successfully  protected  and  asserted. 

Decisions  of  the  young  judge  were  marvel- 
ously  able  and  lucid,  and  were  almost  uniformly 
sustained  upon  appeal. 

While  upon  the  bench  Judge  Prendergast 
became  much  interested  in  the  future  of  the 
great  city  in  which  he  lived, — Chicago.  He  was 
among  the  first  to  discover  that  the  sanitation 
of  the  city  was  wholly  inadequate  to  its  needs, 
and  that  if  Chicago  was  ever  to  become  the  great- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  339 

est  city  in  the  western  hemisphere,  its  whole  sys- 
tem of  sanitation  would  have  to  be  changed.  The 
sewage  of  the  city  at  the  time  was  emptied 
into  Lake  Michigan,  and  from  this  clear  and 
fresh  water  at  the  doors  of  the  city  the  water 
supply  of  the  city  was  taken.  He  was  the  first 
man  in  public  life  to  perceive  that  it  would  be 
impossible  for  the  city  to  grow  unless  it  main- 
tained its  health,  and  that  it  could  not  maintain 
its  health  while  its  water  supply  came  from  the 
very  place  in  which  the  sewage  of  the  city 
was  emptied.  After  consultation  with  civil  and 
sanitary  engineers,  he,  among  the  first,  advocated 
the  reversal  of  the  flow  of  the  Chicago  River, 
the  cutting  through  the  watershed  which  sepa- 
rated the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence  from  the 
basin  of  the  Mississippi  River,  the  drawing  of 
the  pure,  clear  waters  of  Lake  Michigan  through 
the  Chicago  River  into  the  Desplaines,  and  thence 
emptying  these  waters  with  the  sewage  of  the 
city  through  the  Desplaines  River  into  the  Illi- 
nois River,  the  Mississippi,  and  the  Gulf  of  Mex- 
ico. This  daring  scheme,  which  would  entail 
the  expenditure  of  at  least  $50,000,000,  was  at 
once  advocated  with  characteristic  boldness  and 
audacity  by  the  young  judge. 

Finding  the  position  of  a  judge  too  narrow 
in  its  scope  for  the  development  of  his  abilities, 
and  too  meager  a  source  of  living,  he  refused  a 
third  nomination  for  the  County  Court,  and  re- 
tired to  private  practice.  While  practicing  at 
the  bar,  his  income  became  enormous,  but  even 
in  the  midst  of  his  active  practice,  he  found  time 
to  devote  himself  to  public  interests.  He  was 
largely  instrumental  in  creating  the  Sanitary 
District  of  Chicago,  which  was  organized  by  the 
Legislature  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  through 


340  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

the  watershed,  hereinbefore  mentioned,  and  turn- 
ing the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan  into  the  Mis- 
sissippi. After  the  Sanitary  District  was  cre- 
ated as  a  corporation  by  the  Legislature,  Demo- 
cratic and  RepubHcan  parties  nominated  their 
representatives  for  the  first  Board  of  Trustees. 
By  arrangement  between  the  leaders  of  both  par- 
ties, these  nominees  were  selected  because  of 
their  qualifications  more  as  politicians  than  as 
practical  business  men.  When  Prendergast  dis- 
covered that  it  was  the  design  to  administer  this 
corporation  as  a  political  asset,  he  at  once 
sounded  a  cry  of  alarm.  Going  from  paper  to 
paper,  and  from  one  influential  citizen  to  an- 
other, he  finally  organized  a  great  independent 
movement,  which  placed  in  nomination  nine 
trustees,  wholly  unidentified  with  either  of  the 
great  political  parties.  By  common  consent, 
Prendergast  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  ticket, 
and  to  the  astonishment  and  amazement  of 
the  whole  community,  this  independent  ticket, 
led  by  Richard  Prendergast,  was  triumphantly 
successful.  After  his  election  as  Drainage  Trus- 
tee, he  was  elected  first  President  of  the  Sanitary 
District  of  Chicago,  and  served  with  great  credit 
to  himself  and  to  the  great  advantage  of  the 
community  for  a  term  of  six  years.  Thereafter 
he  again  retired  to  private  life  and  private  prac- 
tice of  the  law.  This  practice  brought  him  in  a 
princely  income. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Spanish-American 
war,  Judge  Prendergast  was  one  of  the  most  en- 
ergetic citizens  in  Chicago  in  completing  the 
muster  of  the  Irish-American  Regiment  of  Chi- 
cago, known  as  the  Seventh  Infantry,  and  while 
this  regiment  was  at  the  front,  Judge  Prender- 
gast organized  the  Seventh  Regiment  Armory 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  341 

Association,  whose  aim  and  object  was  to  care 
for  the  wives  and  children  of  the  soldiers.  He 
was  elected  president  of  this  organization,  mainly 
through  his  splendid  appeals  to  the  public.  The 
wives  and  children  of  these  volunteers  were  pro- 
vided for  while  their  husbands  were  absent  and 
while  their  brothers  and  fathers  were  at  the 
front. 

In  the  midst  of  one  of  the  most  successful 
careers  of  any  man  who  practiced  at  the  bar  in 
Chicago,  he  was  carried  off  in  the  prime  of  his 
manhood  at  the  age  of  forty-four  years,  by  an 
attack  of  pernicious  anaemia,  leaving  behind  him 
a  family  of  six  children,  three  boys  and  three 
girls,  who  were  unfortunate  enough  to  lose  their 
young  mother  only  seven  years  before. 

Judge  Prendergast,  through  all  his  life,  was 
a  Jeffersonian  Democrat,  a  hearty  Irish  Nation- 
alist, and  a  zealous  Roman  Catholic.  Both  as 
citizen,  lawyer,  judge,  and  public  official,  he 
earned  the  respect  and  admiration  of  the  whole 
community.  His  untimely  taking  off  was  due 
in  a  large  measure  to  the  overstrain  and  over- 
work which  his  indomitable  and  tireless  nature 
heaped  upon  him  in  his  professional  life.  He 
died  in  the  midst  of  a  law  suit  in  which  he  earned 
a  fee  of  $80,000,  which  was  afterward  paid  to 
his  estate. 

He  was  possessed  of  a  commanding  pres- 
ence, was  medium  in  stature,  and  of  finely  chis- 
eled features.  He  had  a  command  of  language 
and  a  gift  of  delivery  rarely  equaled  and  never 
surpassed  at  the  Chicago  bar.  He  had,  more- 
over, a  complete  command  of  invective  and  sat- 
ire, and  was  possessed  of  a  sunny  humor,  charac- 
teristic of  his  race.  Few  could  equal  him  in  the 
onslaught  of  an  attack,  and  his  defenses  were 


342  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

marvels  of  ingenuity  and  finesse.  He  swayed 
the  courts  by  his  masterly  logic  and  his  juries  by 
the  overwhelming  power  of  his  eloquence,  all 
of  which  made  him  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
men  of  his  day. 

Joseph  Napier 

Joseph  Napier,  jurist,  was  born  in  Belfast,  in 
December,  1804,  descended  from  the  Napiers  of 
Merchiston.  He  received  his  early  education 
from  the  great  dramatist,  James  Sheridan 
Knowles,  and  was  distinguished  for  his  prog- 
ress and  diligence.  In  1820  he  entered  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  where  he  soon  gained  consid- 
erable reputation  both  as  a  classical  scholar  and 
a  mathematician,  obtaining  honors  both  in  clas- 
sics and  science  during  his  undergraduate  course. 
His  first  intention,  after  graduating  in  1825,  was 
to  seek  for  a  fellowship  in  his  college,  which  his 
learning  and  talent  would  probably  have  secured 
to  him,  but  after  taking  his  master's  degree  he 
was  induced  to  abandon  that  intention,  and  ap- 
plied himself  to  study  for  the  bar. 

In  London  he  studied  under  Patteson,  upon 
whose  elevation  to  the  bench,  in  1830,  Napier 
commenced  to  practice  as  a  special  pleader.  In 
1831  he  returned  to  Dublin  and  was  admitted  to 
the  Irish  bar  in  the  Easter  term  of  that  year. 
The  following  year  he  went  to  the  northeastern 
circuit,  and  established  for  himself  the  reputa- 
tion of  a  sound  lawyer  and  an  accurate  pleader. 
In  1840  Napier,  with  some  other  legal  friends, 
originated  The  Law  Institute,  which  led  to  im- 
portant results  in  the  improvement  of  legal  edu- 
cation in  Ireland;  and  in  this  society  he  delivered 
a  popular  course  of  lectures  on  common  law. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  343 

A  point  of  great  importance  was  raised  by 
Napier  in  1843  in  the  case  of  the  Queen  versus 
Gray, — namely,  the  right  of  persons  on  trial  for 
non-capital  felonies  to  challenge  jurors  per- 
emptorily. The  Irish  courts  decided  against  the 
right,  but  the  House  of  Lords,  upon  appeal,  re- 
versed that  decision.  The  argument  of  Na- 
pier was  spoken  of  in  very  favorable  terms  by 
high  judicial  persons  in  London,  and  established 
his  professional  reputation.  Upon  his  return  to 
Ireland  he  was  called  within  the  bar,  and  soon 
took  a  high  place  among  the  leading  common  law 
practitioners.  He  was  now  on  several  occasions 
engaged  in  appeals  from  the  Irish  courts  to  the 
House  of  Lords,  and  in  the  great  case  of  Lord 
Dungannon  versus  Smith,  in  June,  1845,  delivered 
two  masterly  arguments,  which  were  eulogized 
by  the  lord-chancellor  and  many  of  the  law  lords, 
including  Lord  Brougham  and  Baron  Parke. 

Napier  now  turned  his  attention  to  the 
House  of  Commons  and  in  1847  contested  the 
representation  of  Trinity  College  with  Shaw. 
Though  on  that  occasion  unsuccessful,  he  was 
in  the  following  year,  upon  the  resignation  of 
Shaw,  returned  without  opposition.  Napier  con- 
tinued to  represent  his  university  up  to  1858, 
and  took  an  active  and  able  part  in  all  the  im- 
portant discussions  of  the  period,  especially  upon 
the  subjects  of  law  reform,  and  the  appointment 
of  a  minister  for  the  department  of  justice,  mak- 
ing a  high  character  as  a  statesman  and  an 
orator. 

Upon  the  accession  of  Lord  Derby  as  prime 
minister  in  March,  1852,  Napier  was  appointed 
attorney-general  for  Ireland,  a  post  which  he 
held  till  the  resignation  of  the  Derby  ministry 
in   January,    1853.     Upon    the   return    of    Lord 


344  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Derby  to  power,  in  March,  1858,  Napier  was  ap- 
pointed Lord-Chancellor  of  Ireland,  holding  the 
seals  till  the  resignation  of  the  ministry,  in  June, 
1859. 

A  volume  containing  the  most  important  de- 
cisions of  Lord-Chancellor  Napier  has  been  pub- 
lised,  which  evince  the  industry,  care,  and 
learning  which  he  brought  to  bear  upon  his  judg- 
ments. After  his  retirement  from  professional 
life,  Napier  devoted  himself  to  the  improvement 
of  the  youth  of  his  native  land,  and,  as  a  public 
lecturer,  eminently  served  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion. As  a  lawyer,  scholar,  and  politician,  Napier 
is  entitled  to  a  high  place  among  his  countrymen. 
He  died  in  1882. 


William  Petty-FitzMaurice 

William  Petty-FitzMaurice,  Earl  of  Shel- 
burne  and  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  statesman, 
was  born  in  Dublin,  May  20,  1737.  (His  father, 
John  FitzMaurice,  assumed  the  name  of  Petty 
in  1751,  and,  on  the  decease  of  a  maternal  uncle 
inherited  the  large  Irish  estates  of  his  grand- 
father. Sir  William  Petty,  and  in  1753  was  cre- 
ated Earl  of  Shelburne.)  His  early  years  were 
spent  in  Munster  with  his  grandfather,  the  first 
Earl  of  Kerry.  At  sixteen  he  was  sent  to  Christ 
Church,  Oxford.  Afterwards,  entering  the  army, 
he  served  in  Germany,  and  gave  signal  proof  of 
personal  valor  at  the  battles  of  Kampen  and 
Minden. 

At  the  accession  of  George  HI.  he  was  ap- 
pointed aide-de-camp  to  the  king,  with  the  rank 
of  colonel.  In  1761  he  was  elected  member  for 
Wycombe,  a  seat  he  held  only  for  a  few  weeks, 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  345 

as  upon  his  father's  death,  May  10  of  that  year, 
he  passed  to  the  House  of  Lords  as  Earl  of  Shel- 
burne  in  the  Irish  and  Baron  Wycombe  in  the 
British  peerage.  In  April,  1763,  he  was,  though 
not  then  twenty-six  years  of  age,  appointed  to 
the  head  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  sworn  of  the 
Privy-Council. 

In  these  official  positions  he  reported  upon 
the  organization  of  the  government  and  the  set- 
tlement of  boundaries  of  the  newly  acquired 
Canadian  territories.  His  strongly  worded  rep- 
resentations as  to  the  danger  attending  the  pro- 
posed plans  for  the  taxation  of  the  American 
colonies  caused  him  to  be  regarded  with  disfavor 
by  George  HI.  On  Grenville's  modification  of 
his  cabinet,  in  the  following  September,  Shel- 
burne  resigned  his  office  and  thenceforth  re- 
mained closely  united  with  Pitt,  against  whom, 
at  the  outset  of  his  career,  he  had  been  strongly 
prejudiced.  For  more  than  a  year  he  lived  in 
retirement  at  Bowood,  adding  to  his  library  and 
improving  his  estate. 

In  1766  Pitt,  then  Earl  of  Chatham,  formed 
his  second  administration,  and  the  Earl  of  Shel- 
burne  accepted  the  post  of  Secretary  of  State  for 
the  Southern  Department,  which  included  the 
colonies.  As  might  have  been  expected  from  his 
previously  declared  opinions,  he  endeavored  to 
gain  the  good-will  of  the  American  colonies, — 
putting  himself  in  communication  with  their 
several  agents  in  England,  and  seeking  full  in- 
formation on  the  points  in  which  the  colonists 
regarded  themselves  aggrieved.  In  these  good 
offices  he  was  opposed  by  his  colleagues,  and 
when  illness  obliged  Lord  Chatham  to  withdraw 
from  an  active  share  in  the  government,  the  in- 
fluence of  Grafton,  Townshend  and  others  be- 


346  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

came  paramount,  and  Shelburne's  conciliatory 
policy  was  cast  to  the  winds.  After  the  passage 
of  the  Import  Duties  Act  he  would  probably  have 
resigned  were  it  not  that  he  considered  himself 
bound  to  Chatham,  then  too  ill  to  see  any  of  his 
coadjutors  even  on  the  most  important  afifairs. 
The  management  of  the  colonies  was  shortly 
afterwards  transferred  to  Lord  Hillsborough, 
the  other  secretary,  and  Lord  Shelburne  gladly 
resigned  office,  October  19,  1768. 

Lord  Chatham's  resignation  followed,  and 
George  III.  found  a  congenial  minister  in  Lord 
North.  Shortly  after  this  Lady  Shelburne  died, 
and  he  paid  a  prolonged  visit  to  the  continent 
with  his  friend.  Colonel  Barre.  In  Paris  he  be- 
came acquainted  with  the  Abbe  Morellet  and 
other  eminent  men,  and  he  afterwards  declared 
that  his  intimacy  with  Morellet  was  the  turning 
point  in  his  career;  in  his  own  words,  "Morellet 
liberalized  my  ideas."  Many  of  his  French  friends 
were  afterwards  induced  to  visit  Bowood,  where, 
in  company  with  Franklin,  Garrick,  Barre, 
Priestly,  and  others,  they  found  the  equivalent 
of  the  brilliant  society  of  Paris. 

Out  of  office,  Lord  Shelburne  continued  the 
steady  friend  of  Chatham,  opposing  Lord  North's 
ministry  on  most  leading  questions,  especially 
those  relating  to  America.  In  April.  1778,  Lord 
North  resigned,  and  the  negotiations  for  the 
return  of  Lord  Chatham  to  office  (put  an  end  to 
by  his  death)  were  carried  on  almost  entirely  by 
Lord  Shelburne.  Next  year  his  marriage  with 
Lady  Louisa  FitzPatrick  connected  him  more 
closely  than  before  with  Fox  and  Lord  Holland. 
After  Lord  Chatham's  death,  Shelburne  joined 
Lord  Rockingham,  consenting  to  waive  in  his 
favor  (in  case  of  office  being  offered  to  him)  his 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  347 

title  to  the  premiership.  His  opposition  to  Lord 
North  increased  in  activity  as  the  poHcy  of  the 
latter  became  more  and  more  unsuccessful,  while 
Shelburne  himself  may  be  said  to  have  become 
proportionately  popular.  The  measures  passed 
in  December,  1779,  for  the  relief  of  Irish  com- 
merce had  his  heartiest  approval. 

March  20,  1782,  in  consequence  of  the  sur- 
render of  Lord  Cornv^allis  at  Yorktov^n,  Lord 
North's  ministry  succumbed,  and  Lord  Rock- 
ingham became  his  successor,  with  Lord  Shel- 
burne and  Charles  James  Fox  as  Secretaries  of 
State.  As  Secretary  of  State,  Shelburne,  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  May  17,  moved  those  measures 
which  conceded  parliamentary  independence  to 
Ireland.  The  ministry  lasted  little  over  three 
months, — Rockingham's  death  in  July  being  the 
immediate  cause  of  its  dissolution.  Fox,  with 
Burke  and  his  other  friends,  then  insisted  on 
the  Duke  of  Portland  being  made  Premier;  the 
King,  however,  who  had  come  to  place  great 
confidence  in  Lord  Shelburne,  preferred  him, 
and  entrusted  him  with  the  formation  of  a  min- 
istry. Fox's  party,  unable  to  dissuade  him  from 
acceding  to  the  King's  desire,  seceded  in  a  body, 
being  unwilling  to  accept  his  leadership. 

During  Shelburne's  administration  of  little 
over  seven  months,  Gibraltar  was  successfully 
defended,  the  great  victories  of  Howe  and  Rod- 
ney enabled  Great  Britain  to  make  honorable 
terms  with  France,  Spain,  and  Holland,  and  sep- 
arate preliminaries  of  peace  were  arranged  with 
the  United  States.  Shelburne  resigned  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1783,  and  did  not  again  accept  office,  or 
take  any  prominent  part  in  public  affairs, — giv- 
ing, however,  a  steady  support  to  his  younger 
colleague,    Pitt.     He    was    created    Marquis    of 


348  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Lansdowne  in  1784.  His  health  being  feeble, 
he  felt  neither  strength  nor  inclination  again  to 
enter  into  the  turmoil  of  party  politics.  Lord 
Lansdowne  died  May  7,  1805,  and  his  remains 
were  interred  in  the  church  of  High  Wycombe. 

The  Edinburgh  Review  says:  '^History  has 
not  done  justice  to  the  character  of  the  first  Mar- 
quis of  Lansdowne,  who  only  wanted  the  oppor- 
tunity to  have  taken  his  place  in  the  first  rank. 
.  .  .  During  his  short  administration  he  con- 
cluded a  disastrous  war  by  a  peace  in  which  the 
interests  and  the  honor  of  the  country  were  duly 
regarded,  and  the  domestic  policy  which  he  pur- 
sued was  only  in  fault  inasmuch  as  it  was  in 
advance  of  the  knowledge  and  morality  of  the 
time.  .  .  .  He  was  an  ardent  champion  of 
American  independence.  He  hailed  with  enthu- 
siasm the  French  Revolution.  He  had  always 
firmly  maintained  that  France  ought  not  to  be 
the  enemy  but  the  friend  and  ally  of  England. 
He  was  the  strenuous  advocate  of  free  trade.  He 
was  for  Catholic  Emancipation  and  complete  re- 
ligious equality  before  the  law." 

He  was  twice  married, — in  1765  to  Lady 
Sophia  Carteret,  and,  after  her  death,  to  Lady 
Louisa  FitzPatrick,  in  1779.  One  of  his  sons 
by  the  first  marriage  succeeded  him  as  second 
Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  and  another  by  the  sec- 
ond became  third  marquis. 

Henry  C.  K.  Petty-FitzMaurice,  fifth  mar- 
quis, eldest  son  of  the  fourth  Marquis  of  Lans- 
downe, born  in  1845,  was  Under-Secretary  for 
War,  1872-74;  Under-Secretary  for  India,  1800; 
Governor-General  of  Canada,  1883-88;  Governor- 
General  of  India,  1888-93;  Secretary  for  War, 
1895-1900,  and  in  the  latter  year  became  Foreign 
Secretary. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  349 

John  O'Shanassy 

Sir  John  O'Shanassy,  Austrahan  statesman, 
son  of  Denis  O'Shanassy,  was  born  near  Thurles, 
County  Tipperary,  in  1818.  He  emigrated  to 
AustraHa  in  1839,  and  finally  settled  at  Mel- 
bourne, in  1846,  where  he  started  in  business  and 
met  with  considerable  success.  In  1856  he  was 
one  of  the  chief  promoters  of  the  colonial  bank, 
and  for  fourteen  years  acted  as  chairman  of  its 
board  of  directors.  Throughout  life  an  ardent 
Catholic,  he  was  one  of  the  founders  of  St.  Pat- 
rick's Society,  and  for  many  years  represented 
his  co-religionists  on  the  denominational  board 
of  education.  But  it  was  in  politics  that  the 
greatest  part  of  his  energies  were  devoted. 

When  the  separation  of  Victoria  from  New 
South  Wales  took  place  in  1851,  he  was  returned 
as  one  of  the  members  for  Melbourne  to  the  first 
Legislative  Council,  and  became  virtually  leader 
of  the  opposition  to  the  official  or  nominee  ele- 
ment in  that  body.  O'Shanassy,  who  had  been 
one  of  the  strongest  advocates  for  the  separation 
of  the  province  of  Melbourne  from  the  colony 
of  New  South  Wales,  now  became  a  stanch  sup- 
porter of  responsible  government.  He  was  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  anti-transportation  league 
and  strongly  opposed  the  Australian  penal  settle- 
ment system. 

In  1852  he  and  his  colleagues  succeeded  in 
defeating  the  official  Gold  Export  Duty  bill;  and 
he  was  appointed  by  Sir  Charles  Hotham  as 
member  of  the  commission  to  investigate  the 
condition  of  the  gold  fields  of  Victoria.  He  was 
also  a  member  of  the  committee  appointed  in 
1853  to  report  upon  the  best  form  of  a  consti- 
tution for  the  colony.    In  1855  he  was  a  member 


350  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

of  both  the  gold  and  crown  land  commissions. 

In  September,  1856,  at  the  first  election  to 
the  first  Legislative  Assembly,  he  was  elected 
for  Melbourne,  and  also  for  the  constituency  of 
Kilmore,  and  took  his  seat  for  the  latter.  Early 
in  1857,  on  the  fall  of  the  Haines  administration, 
he  became  premier  and  chief  secretary,  and  his 
government,  formed  on  a  democratic  basis,  held 
office  only  a  few  weeks,  when  it  resigned  in  con- 
sequence of  a  vote  of  want  of  confidence.  O'Shan- 
assy  returned  to  ofiice  as  premier  and  chief 
secretary  in  March,  1858,  where  he  remained  this 
time  until  October  27,  1859.  In  his  second  term 
he  successfully  negotiated  the  first  Victorian 
public  loan  of  $8,000,000,  which  was  floated 
through  the  agency  of  six  Melbourne  banks.  He 
became  premier  and  chief  secretary  for  the  third 
time  November  14,  1861,  holding  office  until 
June  27,  1863.  Charles  Gavan  Duffy,  whom  he 
had  welcomed  on  his  arrival  in  Australia,  was 
his  colleague  in  all  three  administrations. 

The  important  measures  fathered  by  the 
O'Shanassy  ministry  during  his  third  term  were 
the  Crown  Lands  act  in  1862,  and  the  Local 
Government  act  in  1863.  In  June,  1863,  he  left 
office,  but  continued  to  be  a  member  of  the  Vic- 
torian Legislature,  except  in  1866-67,  when  he 
visited  Europe.  In  recognition  of  his  services  to 
the  cause  of  Catholic  education  he  was  created 
a  Knight  of  the  Order  of  St.  Gregory  the  Great 
by  Pope  Pius  IX.  After  his  return  to  Victoria 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Legislative  Coun- 
cil (in  February,  1868),  without  opposition,  and 
in  1872,  re-elected  for  ten  years,  but  at  the  end 
of  two  years  resigned  his  seat.  In  1877  he  again 
entered  the  assembly  as  member  for  Belfast. 

He  was  a  supporter  of  free  trade,  a  broad- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  351 

minded  advocate  of  constitutional  politics,  and  of 
a  general  Australian  federation.  In  capacity  and 
legislative  mastery  he  had  no  superiors  among 
his  contemporaries  in  the  Victorian  Legislature. 
In  1870  he  was  created  a  C.  M.  G.,  and  in  1874  a 
K.  C.  M.  G.  He  married  in  1839,  Margaret  Mc- 
Donnell, of  Thurles.  He  died  May  6,  1883,  leav- 
ing three  sons  and  three  daughters.  His  wife 
died  in  1887. 

John  Egan 

John  Egan,  Chairman  of  Kilmainham,  Coun- 
ty Dublin,  was  born  about  1750,  at  Charleville, 
County  Cork.  He  entered  Trinity  College,  Dub- 
lin, as  a  sizar,  and  graduated  B.  A.  in  1773, 
and  LL.  B.  in  1776,  and  in  1790  the  degree  of 
LL.  D.  was  conferred  upon  him.  He  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Irish  bar  in  1778,  subsequently  re- 
ceived a  silk  gown,  and  in  1787  was  elected  a 
bencher  of  the  Society  of  Kings  Inns,  Dublin. 
In  March,  1789,  he  entered  the  Irish  parliament 
as  member  for  Ballinakill,  and  from  1790  to  the 
period  of  the  Union  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
sat  for  the  borough  of  Tullagh,  Coimty  Water- 
ford.  In  1799  he  was  appointed  Chairman  of 
Kilmainham.  His  means  at  this  time  being  re- 
duced, the  position  was  practically  his  only 
source  of  income. 

The  office  depended  on  government  favor, 
and  it  was  intimated  that  his  support  of  the 
Legislative  Union  would  lead  to  further  advance- 
ment. As  the  final  debate  on  the  question  pro- 
ceeded, it  was  seen  that  he  was  struggling  under 
conflicting  emotions;  at  length  he  rose,  delivered 
a  furious  speech  against  the  Union,  and  sat  down 
exclaiming.  "Ireland — Ireland  for  ever!  and 
damn  Kilmainham !"  He  was  a  noted  duelist  and 


352  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

once  fought  with  his  intimate  friend  John  Phil- 
pot  Curran,  fortunately  without  serious  conse- 
quences. In  after  life  there  were  few  of  the  old 
iriends  of  Curran  of  whom  the  latter  was  accus- 
tomed to  speak  with  greater  affection  than  of 
Egan.     He  died  in  1810. 

David  Collins 

David  Collins,  colonial  governor  of  Van  Die- 
men's  Land,  son  of  General  Collins  of  Pack, 
Kings  County,  was  born  March  3,  1756.  When 
but  fourteen  he  received  an  appointment  as  lieu- 
tenant in  the  Marines;  fought  at  Bunker  Hill 
and  elsewhere  in  the  American  Revolutionary 
war,  and  on  the  proclamation  of  peace  in  1782, 
settled  in  Kent,  England,  on  half-pay  with  an 
American  wife. 

In  May,  1787,  he  sailed  with  Governor  Phil- 
lip as  secretary  and  judge-advocate  on  the  expe- 
dition to  establish  a  convict  settlement  at  Bot- 
any Bay,  New  South  Wales,  recently  discovered 
by  Captain  Cook.  The  proposed  locality  was 
found  unsuitable;  Port  Jackson  was  preferred, 
and  there  Sydney  was  founded.  Collins  remained 
in  Australia  for  ten  years,  and  after  his  return 
wrote  an  "Account  of  the  English  Colony  in 
New  South  Wales,  with  some  Particulars  of 
New  Zealand  from  Governor  King's  MSS,"  two 
volumes,  London,  1798-1802.  The  work  is  em- 
bellished with  many  plates,  and  as  the  first  pub- 
lished account  of  the  new  colony,  has  a  per- 
manent interest. 

Shortly  after  the  publication  of  this  work  he 
was  commissioned  to  establish  another  convict 
settlement  in  Australia.  He  made  an  abortive 
attempt  to  found  one  on  the  southeastern  shore 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  353 

of  Port  Phillip,  and  then  crossed  to  Van  Die- 
men's  Land  (now  Tasmania),  where,  on  Febru- 
ary 19,  1804,  he  laid  the  foundations  of  the  pres- 
ent city  of  Hobart  Town.  Collins  was  the  first 
governor  of  the  island,  and  died  at  his  post, 
March  24,  1810. 

George  Higinbotham 

George  Higinbotham,  Chief- Justice  of  Vic- 
toria, was  born  in  Dublin,  April  19,  1826.  He 
was  educated  at  the  Royal  School,  Dungannon, 
and  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  where  he  gradu- 
ated B.  A.  in  1848,  and  M.  A.  in  1853.  In  1847 
he  went  to  London  and  while  studying  for  the 
bar  became  a  reporter  on  the  Morning  Chronicle. 
He  entered  Lincoln's  Inn,  April,  1848,  and  was 
admitted  to  practice,  and  shortly  afterwards 
went  to  Australia. 

He  arrived  in  Melbourne  early  in  1854,  prac- 
ticed his  profession,  and  occasionally  contributed 
to  the  Melbourne  Herald.  In  1856  he  accepted 
the  editorship  of  the  Argus,  but  resigned  in 
1859,  so  as  to  devote  himself  entirely  to  his  law 
practice.  He  now  entered  the  political  field,  and 
in  1861  was  elected  a  member  for  Brighton  to 
the  Legislative  Assembly,  as  an  Independent 
Liberal.  In  1862  he  lost  his  seat,  but  the  next 
year  was  again  elected  from  the  same  constitu- 
ency. In  June,  1863,  on  the  defeat  of  the  O'Shan- 
assy  Government,  he  became  attorney-general 
in  the  Victorian  Cabinet  formed  under  Sir  James 
McCulloch.  In  the  long  struggle  between  the 
two  houses  over  the  question  of  finance  bills  and 
the  Darling  Grant,  which  lasted  from  1865  to 
1868,  Higinbotham  was  a  leading  figure,  and  his 
attitude  in  the  controversy  won  for  him  great 


354  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

popularity.  In  September,  1866,  he  was  appointed 
chairman  of  the  Education  Commission,  and  in 
July,  1868,  when  McCulloch  returned  to  power, 
he  declined  the  post  of  attorney-general,  but  re- 
mained in  the  Cabinet  as  Vice-President  of  the 
Board  of  Land  and  Works  without  salary.  In 
1869  he  left  the  ministry  altogether. 

In  1871,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  whole 
colony,  he  lost  his  seat  in  the  assembly  to  a  local 
candidate,  and  for  the  next  three  years  was  en- 
gaged in  a  lucrative  practice  at  the  bar.  In  1874 
he  was  elected  to  the  assembly  for  the  East 
Bourke  borough,  but  finding  himself  unable  to 
support  the  Berry  Ministry  on  the  questions  of 
land  tax  and  payment  of  members,  he  resigned 
his  seat.  He  now  retired  from  active  political 
life,  and  in  1880  was  appointed  to  a  seat  on  the 
Puisne  Bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Victoria. 
In  September,  1886,  on  the  retirement  of  Sir 
William  Stawell,  he  became  chief-justice  of  the 
colony.  His  great  independence  and  his  view  of 
colonial  government  were  shown  by  his  refusal 
to  accept  knighthood  on  the  ground  that  all  re- 
wards for  local  service  should  emanate  from  local 
sources.  He  had  intimated  to  the  Imperial 
authorities  that  if  he  were  appointed  acting  gov- 
ernor of  Victoria  in  the  absence  of  Sir  Henry 
Loch  in  1880  (as  was  the  custom),  he  would 
cease  to  refer  any  matters  of  local  concern  to  the 
secretary  of  state. 

He  was  for  several  years  Vice-President  of 
the  Melbourne  Benevolent  Asylum,  President  of 
the  Australian  Health  Society,  and  in  1877  was 
appointed  President  of  the  Executive  Commit- 
tee of  the  Melbourne  Centennial  Exhibition.  In 
1888  he  began  his  second  consolidation  of  the 
laws  of  Victoria,  which  resulted  in  a  remarkably 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  355 

successful  work,  and  he  was  publicly  thanked  in 
parliament  in  1890.  In  the  latter  year  Higin- 
botham  incurred  some  class  opprobrium  through 
his  outspoken  adherence  to  the  cause  of  the 
workers  in  the  great  general  strike  and  by  con- 
tributing to  their  funds  until  a  conference  was 
conceded. 

The  vehemence  of  his  political  utterances 
contrasted  strongly  with  the  charm  and  ami- 
ability of  his  private  life — those  who  condemned 
his  political  views  were  strongly  attached  to  him 
personally — and  his  intellectual  attainments 
and  unconventional  opinions  on  all  social  ques- 
tions made  him  one  of  the  most  popular  public 
men  of  his  time  in  Australia.  His  oratorical 
powers  were  of  a  high  order.  In  1854  he  married 
Margaret  Foreman,  by  whom  he  had  several 
children.  He  died  at  his  residence  in  Melbourne, 
December  31, 1892. 

Richard  John  Griffith 

Sir  Richard  John  Griffith,  baronet,  geologist, 
was  born  in  Dublin  September  20,  1784.  His 
father  Richard  Griffith,  was  a  member  of  the 
Irish  House  of  Commons,  and  was  one  of  the 
promoters  of  the  grand  canals.  The  son,  Rich- 
ard, received  his  commission  as  lieutenant  in  the 
Royal  Irish  artillery,  in  1800,  but  after  the  Legis- 
lative Union,  he  retired  and  embraced  the  more 
congenial  profession  of  a  civil  engineer.  In  1802 
he  became  the  pupil  of  William  Nicholson,  of 
London,  the  editor  of  the  Philosophical  Journal, 
and  there  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  various 
sciences,  including  practical  mining;  visited  the 
various  mines  of  the  British  Isles,  and  made  the 
acquaintance   of   Sir   Humphry   Davy   and   Sir 


356  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

John  St.  Aubyn.  In  the  year  1808  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Royal  DubHn  Society,  for  which 
he  made  a  survey  of  the  Leinster  coal  district, 
and  in  1809  he  received  his  first  public  appoint- 
ment as  one  of  the  engineers  to  report  upon  the 
situation,  extent  and  capabiHty  for  culture  of 
the  bogs  of  Ireland. 

The  bog  of  Allan  and  the  adjacent  bog-lands 
fell  to  his  lot,  and  he  reported  upon  four  hundred 
and  seventy-four  thousand  acres  of  country.  Be- 
sides the  subject  in  hand  he  described  the  geo- 
logical, physical  and  mineral  aspects  of  the  dis- 
tricts reported  upon  and  shov^^ed  the  adaptation 
of  the  reclaimed  bogs  for  the  production  of  florin 
grass,  remarkable  for  its  nutritious  qualities.  Ow- 
ing to  the  celebrity  he  then  gained,  the  Royal 
Dublin  Society  having,  in  1812,  founded  a  pro- 
fessorship of  geology  and  practical  mining, 
Griffith  received  the  appointment.  His  next  ap- 
pointment was  that  of  inspector  of  the  royal 
mines  in  Ireland.  From  this  time  up  to  the  year 
1822,  he  continued  his  lectures  on  geology  and 
mining. 

In  1822  he  laid  out  two  hundred  and  eighty 
miles  of  admirable  road  through  the  mountain- 
ous districts  of  the  South.  In  1824  a  general 
valuation  and  ordnance  survey  of  Ireland  having 
been  directed  by  government,  Griffith's  recom- 
mendation of  a  scale  of  six  inches  to  the  mile  was 
adopted,  and  he  was  appointed  to  carry  out  as  a 
prelude  a  territorial  or  boundary  survey  of  the 
country.  This  work  was  completed  in  the  year 
1846. 

From  the  year  1825  his  career  became  a 
purely  public  one,  and  the  remainder  of  it  is  but 
the  history  of  his  branch  of  the  public  service  in 
Ireland  with  which  his  name  is  identified.    His 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  35; 

general  valuation  of  Ireland,  commenced  in  1830, 
continued  in  operation,  and  upon  it  the  various 
local  and  public  assessments  have  been  made. 
In  1835  he  was  appointed  by  the  Treasury  one  of 
the  commissioners  for  improving  the  river  Shan- 
non, and  in  1836  a  member  of  the  railway  com- 
mission. In  1846  he  was  appointed  deputy-chair- 
man, and  in  1850  Chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Public  Works  in  Ireland. 

Meantime  from  the  year  1812,  he  had  been 
engaged  in  geological  investigations,  and  though 
often  interrupted  by  other  avocations,  he  never 
lost  sight  of  the  subject.  At  length  his  labors 
resulted  in  his  great  geological  map  of  Ireland 
on  a  scale  of  four  miles  to  an  inch.  This  work 
added  to  his  reputation,  and  in  1854  Professor 
Forbes,  on  behalf  of  the  Geological  Society  of 
London,  presented  him  with  the  Wollaston  pal- 
ladium medal,  on  which  occasion  the  professor 
termed  his  map  "one  of  the  most  remarkable 
geological  maps  ever  produced  by  a  single  geol- 
ogist." In  preparing  this  map,  he  incurred  the 
enormous  labor  of  visiting  every  parish  in  Ire- 
land three  times.  In  the  year  1858,  in  considera- 
tion of  his  distinguished  services,  he  was  made  a 
baronet.    He  died  in  1878. 

William  Dargan 

William  Dargan,  engineer  and  contractor, 
was  born  in  County  Carlow,  February  28,  1799. 
On  leaving  school  he  was  placed  in  a  surveyor's 
office,  where  he  showed  great  aptitude  for  busi- 
ness. Having  gained  some  experience  in  Eng- 
land under  Telford,  he  entered  into  a  contract 
for  the  construction  of  the  road  from  Dublin  to 
Howth,  in  which  work  he  was  so  successful  that 


35^  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

in  1831  he  contracted  for  the  construction  of  the 
DubHn  and  Kingston  Railway,  the  first  in  Ire- 
land. As  the  railway  system  spread  through 
the  country,  he  undertook  the  construction  of  the 
principal  lines, — Great  Southern  and  Western, 
Midland  Great  Western,  and  others,  in  all  about 
1,000  miles,  and  accumulated  a  large  fortune, 
mostly  invested  in  Irish  railway  shares.  His  con- 
tract for  the  Ulster  canal,  between  Lough  Erne 
and  Belfast,  was  accepted  and  executed  most 
satisfactorily. 

He  undertook  the  financial  risk  of  the  Dub- 
lin Industrial  Exhibition  of  1853,  and  bore  the 
deficit  of  about  £  10,000  resulting  therefrom.  On 
the  occasion  of  its  opening  by  the  Queen  he  de- 
clined the  honor  of  a  baronetcy.  To  commemo- 
rate his  active  interest  in  the  industrial  progress 
of  Ireland,  his  statue  was  erected  in  front  of  the 
National  Gallery  of  Dublin,  and  from  1853  to 
1865  he  was  among  the  most  honored  men  in  the 
country,  and  was  supposed  to  be  one  of  the 
wealthiest.  In  1866  he  was  severely  injured  by  a 
fall  from  his  horse,  and  soon  afterwards,  over- 
strained by  innumerable  undertakings,  became 
bankrupt,  and  died,  February  7,  1867.  He  was 
buried  in  Glasnevin  Cemetery.  A  small  pension 
on  the  Civil  List  was  granted  to  his  widow. 

Saint  Malachy 

Saint  Malachy,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  was 
born  near  Armagh  about  1094.  He  had  a  brother, 
Gillachrist,  who  became  bishop  of  Cloghen  and 
died  in  1138.  His  parents  were  of  high  rank  and 
influence  and  his  mother  in  particular  is  spoken 
of  as  an  excellent  woman  who  made  it  her  spe- 
cial care  to  give  St.  Malachy  a  religious  educa- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  359 

tion.  In  childhood  he  was  noted  for  his  retiring 
habits  and  outstripped  all  his  fellows  in  scholar- 
ship. Educated  near  his  home  by  the  Abbot  Imar, 
the  founder  of  the  Church  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul, 
and  gaining  a  high  reputation  for  sanctity  and 
learning,  Celsus,  Bishop  of  Armagh  admitted 
him  to  orders.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  was 
ordained  to  the  priesthood  (according  to  his 
biographer  St.  Bernard  five  years  before  the 
canonical  age),  and  displayed  burning  zeal,  suc- 
cessfully effecting  many  important  reforms  in 
the  diocese.  St.  Bernard  particularly  mentions 
that  he  introduced  singing  into  the  church  ser- 
vice. 

With  a  view  of  acquiring  further  knowledge 
of  ecclesiastical  discipline  he  studied  under  Mal- 
chus.  Bishop  of  Lismore,  for  several  years,  whose 
reputation  for  learning  was  then  attracting 
many.  Cormac  MacCarthy,  who  had  recently 
been  deposed  from  his  sovereignty  of  Desmond 
by  Turlough  O'Connor,  King  of  Connaught,  was 
then  living  in  retirement  with  Malchus.  The 
king  and  St.  Malachy  grew  to  be  fast  friends, 
which  lasted  until  the  former's  death. 

Returning  to  Ulster  in  1120,  St.  Malachy 
was  placed  in  charge  of  the  decayed  abbey  of 
Bangor  in  County  Down,  which  had  recently 
before  been  destroyed  by  pirates.  Having 
brought  ten  brethren  with  him  from  Armagh  he 
in  a  few  days  built  an  oratory,  St.  Malachy  him- 
self handling  the  axe,  and  succeeded  in  making 
it  a  flourishing  seminary  of  learning  and  piety. 
In  1124  he  was  chosen  Bishop  of  Connor,  but  at 
first  refused  to  accept  until  compelled  to  do  so 
by  Celsus,  though  he  lived  at  Bangor  after  his 
consecration.  St.  Bernard  gives  an  account  of 
the  deplorable  condition  in  which  he  found  the 


36o  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

diocese.  But  with  characteristic  energy  he  set 
to  work  for  its  reformation,  laboring  especially 
to  increase  conformity  with  the  usages  and  dis- 
cipline of  the  Church,  and  in  a  few  years  wrought 
a  great  change  in  the  morals  of  his  people. 

Celsus,  Bishop  of  Armagh,  died  in  1129  (in 
whose  family  the  see  had  been  hereditary  for 
many  years),  and  in  his  will  designated  St. 
Malachy  as  his  successor.  He  accepted  the 
dignity  with  reluctance,  but  owing  to  the  seizure 
of  the  see  by  the  supposed  heir  of  Celsus,  St. 
Malachy  did  not  enter  upon  his  new  duties  until 
1134.  Meanwhile  the  city  of  Connor  had  been 
destroyed  by  the  King  of  Ulster,  and  St.  Malachy 
fled  to  the  South  of  Ireland,  where,  under  the 
protection  of  Cormac  MacCarthy,  he  built  the 
monastery  of  Ibrach,  where  he  took  up  his  resi- 
dence. 

At  the  urgent  request  of  the  papal  legate 
and  bishops,  however,  he  allowed  himself  to  be 
consecrated  to  the  primacy  in  1132,  with  the  un- 
derstanding that  when  peace  should  be  restored 
to  the  see  he  would  be  permitted  to  return  to  his 
former  diocese  of  Connor.  To  avoid  a  conflict 
with  the  heir  of  Celsus  he  did  not  take  up  his 
residence  in  Armagh  until  the  death  of  the 
former  in  1134.  On  his  arrival  in  the  city  another 
claimant  appeared  in  the  person  of  Nigellus,  who 
seized  the  gospels  and  the  "Staff  of  Jesus,"  which 
is  said  to  have  belonged  to  St.  Patrick  and  re- 
garded as  the  insignia  of  the  see.  In  the  end, 
however,  he  was  forced  to  surrender  them  to  St. 
Malachy,  who,  after  three  years  resigned  and  re- 
tired to  the  bishopric  of  Down,  which  had  been 
divided  from  the  diocese  of  Connor,  and  here  he 
recommenced  his  earnest  labors  among  the  peo- 
ple.   In  1138  he  is  said  to  have  founded  a  priory 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  361 

of  regular  canons  at  Downpatrick  and  shortly 
afterwards  a  monastery  at  Saul  in  County  Down. 

In  1139  he  went  on  a  mission  to  Rome  to 
solicit  two  palliums,  one  for  the  archbishopric 
of  Armagh  and  the  other  probably  for  the  metro- 
politan See  of  Cashel.  While  on  his  way  he 
visited  the  Abbey  of  Clairvaux,  and  thus  began  a 
lifelong  friendship  with  St.  Bernard,  his  future 
biographer.  St.  Malachy  was  received  by  Inno- 
cent II.  with  great  honor,  and  after  a  month's 
stay  in  Rome,  he  returned  to  Ireland  as  papal 
legate  with  instructions  to  summon  a  council 
by  which  the  palliums  for  the  two  archbishoprics 
might  be  asked  for  in  due  form.  On  his  way 
homeward,  he  revisited  Clairvaux,  and  the  fol- 
lowing year  introduced  the  order  of  Cistercians 
in  Ireland  (who  founded  the  Abbey  of  Mellifont) 
by  the  advice  of  St.  Bernard. 

For  the  next  eight  years  St.  Malachy  was 
active  in  the  discharge  of  his  legatine  duties,  and 
in  1148  he  received  from  the  bishops  of  Ireland 
a  commission  to  return  to  Rome  and  make  new 
application  for  the  palliums.  Reaching  Clair- 
vaux in  October,  1148,  he  was  seized  with  fever, 
and  died  November  2,  of  that  year,  in  the  arms  of 
St.  Bernard.  He  was  buried  at  Clairvaux,  but 
in  1793,  during  the  French  Revolution,  his  re- 
mains and  those  of  his  friend  St.  Bernard  were 
removed  from  their  sepulchres.  He  was  canon- 
ized in  1190,  and  is  honored  as  the  patron  saint 
of  the  diocese  of  Armagh.  His  festival  is  the 
3rd  of  November. 

St.  Malachy  was  the  most  eminent  Irish 
bishop  of  his  day.  He  greatly  endeared  himself 
to  the  people  by  his  humility  and  unselfishness. 
"A  brilliant  lamp,"  the  Four  Masters  call  him, 
"which  illuminated  territories  and  churches  by 


362  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

preaching  and  good  work."  An  exhaustive 
memoir  of  St.  Malachy  has  been  written  by  Rev. 
John  O'Hanlon,  but  all  later  writers  have  derived 
practically  all  their  information  from  his  con- 
temporary and  friend  St.  Bernard  of  Clairvaux. 

Saint  Laurence  O'Toole 

Saint  Laurence  O'Toole,  Archbishop  of 
Dublin,  born  near  Castledermot  in  1132,  was  son 
of  Murtough  O'Toole,  chief  of  a  territory  south 
of  County  Kildare.  His  mother  belonged  to  the 
kindred  tribe  of  O'Byrne,  who  held  the  north  of 
the  county.  In  1141  Dermot  MacMurrough, 
King  of  Leinster,  compelled  Murtough  to  sur- 
render his  son  Laurence  (then  twelve  years  old), 
as  a  hostage  to  him.  The  boy  was  sent  to  a 
barren  district,  where  he  was  treated  with  such 
harshness  that  his  father  on  learning  of  it,  seized 
twelve  of  Dermot's  followers  and  threatened  to 
execute  them  unless  his  son  was  restored  to  him. 
As  a  result,  the  boy  was  sent  by  Dermot  to  the 
Bishop  of  Glendalough. 

He  was  kindly  treated  at  the  monastery,  ex- 
pressed his  willingness  to  remain,  and  accord- 
ingly became  a  member  of  the  community,  and  at 
the  age  of  twenty-five  was  appointed  abbot. 
Glendalough  was  a  famous  and  wealthy  founda- 
tion of  the  old  Irish  Church,  but  his  office  was 
one  of  difficulty,  owing  to  famine  which  pre- 
vailed in  the  district  and  the  frequent  raids  made 
on  the  lands  of  the  monastery  by  robber  chief- 
tains. Laurence  devoted  himself  to  the  relief 
of  the  destitute  and  supplemented  the  funds  of 
the  monastery  by  his  own  private  fortune. 

Four  years  after  his  appointment  as  abbot, 
the  death  took  place  of  the  bishop,  supposed  by 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  363 

Dr.  Lanigan  to  have  been  Gilla  na  Naemh,  who 
had  taken  part  in  the  council  of  Kells  in  1152. 
Laurence  was  urged  to  accept  the  bishopric,  but 
decHned,  claiming  that  he  had  not  reached  the 
canonical  age.  In  1162,  Gregory,  bishop  of  the 
Danes  of  Dublin,  having  died,  Gelasius  the  prim- 
ate appointed  Laurence  the  first  Archbishop  of 
Dublin,  or  Leinster,  according  to  the  Four  Mas- 
ters. Gregory,  who  was  consecrated  at  Lambeth, 
had  professed  canonical  obedience  to  the  English 
primate,  but  the  action  of  Gelasius  now  restored 
Dublin  to  the  church  of  Ireland,  and  secured,  as 
far  as  possible,  the  adhesion  of  the  community  of 
Glendalough  by  the  appointment  of  their  abbot. 

In  1167  he  attended  "a  great  meeting  con- 
vened by  Roderic  O'Conor  and  the  chiefs  of  the 
North  (both  lay  and  ecclesiastical)"  at  Athboy 
in  County  Meath,  where  thirteen  thousand  horse- 
men assembled.  The  object  of  the  assembly  was 
to  promote  religion  and  good  government.  But 
great  changes  were  at  hand;  for  three  years  after 
Dermot  MacMurrough,  aided  by  Strongbow  and 
his  followers,  appeared  before  Dublin.  Laurence 
acted  as  ambassador  on  behalf  of  the  citizens, 
and  he  endeavored  to  make  terms  with  Dermot, 
but  while  negotiations  were  going  on  a  party  of 
the  enemy  scaled  the  walls  and  obtained  posses- 
sion of  the  city  in  1170. 

In  the  following  year  a  great  effort  was 
made  to  drive  out  the  invaders,  the  leading  spirit 
in  the  project  being  Archbishop  O'Toole. 
Through  his  exertions  an  army,  estimated  at 
thirty  thousand,  assembled  before  Dublin.  The 
Anglo-Normans  led  by  Strongbow,  however, 
surprised  the  besiegers,  and  defeated  them.  He 
now  saw  that  the  divided  Irish  were  unable  to 
cope  with  the  united  invaders,  and  when  in  1171, 


364  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

King  Henry  XL  arrived  with  a  large  force,  the 
archbishop  submitted  to  him.  He  also  took  part 
in  the  Council  of  Cashel,  which  was  summoned 
by  the  King  in  1172.  It  was  not  long  before  he 
found  his  hopes  from  Henry's  beneficent  mission 
disappointed,  and  he  crossed  to  England  to  ap- 
peal to  him  on  behalf  of  his  people  against  in- 
juries and  oppressions  of  the  Anglo-Norman  ad- 
venturers. 

Roderic,  King  of  Ireland,  had  submitted  to 
Henry,  but  finding  it  necessary  to  enter  into  a 
formal  agreement  with  him,  he  employed  Arch- 
bishop O'Toole  as  an  ambassador,  and  in  that 
capacity  he  attended  the  council  of  Windsor  in 
1175.  Four  years  after,  he  received  a  summons 
from  Pope  Alexander  III.  to  attend  the  Lateran 
council,  and,  having  obtained  the  king's  permis- 
sion, he  proceeded  to  Rome.  Having  acquainted 
the  Pope  with  the  injustice  of  the  English  gov- 
ernors he  obtained  a  letter  confirming  the  rights 
and  jurisdiction  of  the  archiepiscopal  See  of  Dub- 
lin, and  also  the  appointment  of  papal  legate, 
whereupon  he  returned  to  Dublin  and  resumed 
his  duties.  In  1180  the  archbishop  once  more 
undertook  the  ofKice  of  ambassador  from  King 
Roderic  to  Henry  II.,  and  proceeded  to  England 
for  the  purpose,  accompanied  by  a  son  of  Roderic, 
who  was  to  be  left  as  a  hostage.  But  Henry  re- 
fused to  listen  to  him,  and  gave  orders  that  he 
was  not  to  return  to  Ireland. 

Some  time  after,  the  king  having  gone  to 
France,  Archbishop  O'Toole  determined  to  fol- 
low him,  hoping  that  he  would  relent;  but  on  his 
arrival  at  Abbeville  on  the  Somme,  he  was  seized 
with  fever.  From  there,  he  hastened  to  Eu,  where 
a  few  days  after,  November  14,  1180,  he  died. 
His  love  for  his  own  country  was  the  ruling 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  365 

passion  of  his  life.  He  was  buried  in  the  church 
of  Notre  Dame  at  Eu,  where  a  side-chapel  bore 
his  name.  In  1226  he  was  canonized  by  Pope 
Honorius  III. 

Saint  Adamnan 

Saint  Adamnan,  the  celebrated  biographer  of 
St.  Columba,  born  about  624  in  the  south  of 
Donegal,  came  of  a  princely  family,  being  eighth 
in  descent  from  King  Niall  of  the  Nine  Hostages. 
In  679,  when  he  was  about  55  years  of  age,  he 
was  elected  Abbot  of  lona — the  eighth  after  the 
founder,  St.  Columba.  His  life  of  the  latter  saint 
in  three  books  has  been  edited  by  Dr.  William 
Reeves.  His  life  of  St.  Columba  in  Latin  is  pro- 
nounced by  a  celebrated  Scotch  writer  to  be  "the 
most  complete  piece  of  such  biography  that  all 
Europe  can  boast  of,  not  only  at  so  early  a 
period,  but  even  through  the  whole  middle  ages." 
He  wrote  the  earliest  account  of  the  Holy  Land 
extant  and  is  the  author  of  various  other  works. 

In  697  a  meeting  of  the  clergy  and  laymen 
was  held  at  Tara,  where,  at  the  instance  of 
Adamnan,  a  law  was  adopted  forbidding  women 
to  take  part  in  war,  which  aimed  to  protect  chil- 
dren from  its  barbarities  and  abolish  the  old 
Irish  practice  of  women  engaging  in  battle;  this 
was  known  as  the  "Canon  of  Adamnan  or  Adam- 
nan's  Law."  He  is  spoken  of  with  great  respect 
by  his  contemporaries.  He  is  the  patron  saint  of 
Raphoe  in  Donegal;  and  many  churches  both  in 
Ireland  and  Scotland  are  dedicated  to  him.  "He 
is  popularly  known  in  Ireland  by  the  name  Eu- 
nan,  which  is  the  Gaelic  pronunciation  of  Adam- 
nan." He  repeatedly  visited  the  court  of  King 
Alfred  of  England,  who  received  him  with  great 
kindness.     He  died  in  703. 


366  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Saint  Caimin 

Saint  Caimin,  or  Caniin,  Abbot  of  Inish- 
caltra,  Lough  Derg,  was  a  brother  of  Guaire, 
King  of  Connaught.  He  chose  the  life  of  an 
anchorite  and  attracted  large  numbers  to  his 
island  retreat  by  his  piety  and  learning.  A  com- 
mentary on  the  119th  Pslam  in  his  own  hand  is 
said  to  have  been  in  the  Franciscan  convent  of 
Donegal  in  the  days  of  Ware.  His  greatest  desire 
was  "that  if  the  church  were  thronged  with  the 
sick  and  infirm,  he  would  wish,  were  he  able,  to 
take  all  their  infirmities  on  himself,  and  bear 
them  for  the  love  of  God  and  his  neighbor."  He 
died  about  653.    His  festival  is  March  24. 

Saint  Comgall 

Saint  Comgall,  or  Congal,  was  born  in  516, 
of  a  distinguished  Dalaradian  family.  As  he 
grew  up  religious  yearnings  pressed  on  him;  he 
traveled,  and  found  a  home  with  St.  Fintan  at 
Clonenagh.  Repressing  his  dislike  to  the  sever- 
ity of  the  discipline,  he  continued  there  some 
time,  and  was  afterwards  ordained  priest  at 
Clonmacnois.  After  retirement  on  an  island  in 
Lough  Erne  he  settled  at  Bangor,  on  the  shore 
of  Belfast  Lough,  in  the  year  559,  and  founded 
the  famous  monastery  and  rule  with  which  his 
name  has  been  ever  since  associated. 

Numbers  of  monks  were  attracted  to  the  in- 
stitution, and  even  Cormac,  King  of  Hy  Kin- 
sellagh,  retired  there  in  his  old  age.  In  the 
seventh  year  after  its  establishment,  he,  with  St. 
Brendan  and  others,  visited  St.  Columba  in  the 
Western  Isles.  He  died  at  Bangor,  in  601.  Lan- 
igan  says:    "St.  Comgall  has  been  justly  reck- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  367 

oned  among  the  fathers  of  the  Irish  Church; 
whether  he  was  the  author  of  certain  tracts  at- 
tributed to  him,  besides  his  monastic  rule,  I  leave 
to  others  to  enquire."    His  festival  is  May  10. 

Saint  Kilian 

Saint  Kilian,  bishop  and  martyr,  Apostle  of 
Franconia,  flourished  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
seventh  century.  He  was  of  an  illustrious  Irish 
family,  and  entered  the  monastic  state  early  in 
life.  Traveling  abroad,  he  reached  Rome  in  686 
or  687,  and  was  well  received  by  the  Pope,  who 
commissioned  him  to  labor  at  Wurtzburg. 
There  he  established  himself  with  two  friends, 
Coloman  and  Totnan.  Among  others  they  con- 
verted the  Duke  of  Gozbert.  St.  Kilian  coun- 
selled him  to  abandon  his  wife  Geilana,  because 
she  had  been  the  wife  of  a  deceased  brother. 

The  Duke,  having  departed  on  a  war- 
like expedition,  Geilana  procured  the  assassina- 
tion of  St.  Kilian  and  his  friends.  Lanigan  pro- 
ceeds: "Geilana  was  seized  with  an  evil  spirit, 
which  tormented  her  so  much  that  she  died  soon 
after.  The  remains  of  the  holy  martyrs  were 
found  in  752  by  St.  Burchard,  Bishop  of  Wurtz- 
burg, and  removed  by  him  to  a  great  church 
which  he  had  erected  in  that  city."  His  festival 
is  July  8.  It  is  said  that  the  present  eleventh  cen- 
tury Cathedral  of  Wurtzburg  occupies  the  site 
of  the  original  building  erected  upon  the  spot 
where  St.  Kilian  was  martyred. 

Saint  Coemghin 

Saint  Coemghin,  or  Coemgin,  or  Kevin,  was 
born   about   498,   of  a  princely   family,   in   Tir 


368  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Tuathal,  comprising  part  of  the  present  County 
Wicklow.  He  is  described  as  having  been  a 
beautiful  youth;  he  was  baptized  by  St.  Cronan 
and  educated  under  "Petrocus,  a  holy  Briton." 
He  was  specially  intimate  with  St.  Columba  and 
St.  Ciaran,  and  when  the  latter  died  at  Clon- 
macnois  Coemghin  made  a  special  pilgrimage 
there  to  watch  by  his  body. 

Round  his  cell  at  Glendalough  a  large  com- 
munity of  disciples  gathered,  attracted  by  his 
learning  and  sanctity;  and  the  ecclesiastical  re- 
mains there  are  intimately  associated  with  his 
name,  although  it  is  unlikely  that  any  of  them 
date  from  his  lifetime.  St.  Coemghin  is  gen- 
erally represented  with  a  bird  in  his  hand,  in 
token  of  his  great  love  of  animals.  The  legend 
concerning  him  and  Kathleen  has  been  embodied 
in  poetry  both  by  Moore  and  Gerald  Griffin.  He 
is  stated  to  have  died  in  618.  His  festival  is 
June  3. 

Saint  Ciaran 

Saint  Ciaran,  or  Kiaran,  the  founder  of  Clon- 
macnois.  He  was  of  Ulster  extraction,  but  his 
father,  a  carpenter,  emigrated  to  Connaught, 
where  Ciaran  was  born,  in  515.  He  studied  at 
Clonard,  under  St.  Finen,  and  having  completed 
his  education  there,  perfected  himself  under  the 
austere  rule  of  St.  Enna,  on  the  Island  of  Arran 
and  at  Scattery  Island.  On  his  return  to  West 
Meath  a  friendly  chief  gave  him  a  piece  of 
ground  and  he  commenced  the  erection  of  the  re- 
ligious establishments  of  Clonmacnois. 

There  he  ministered  during  the  remainder 
of  his  brief  life,  with  the  exception  of  a  sojourn 
at  Inishanghin  on  the  Shannon. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  369 

King  Diarmaid,  whom  the  saint  befriended 
while  in  exile,  was  a  munificent  benefactor  of 
St.  Ciaran's  establishment.  He  died  in  548,  only 
seven  months  after  resuming  his  government  of 
Clonmacnois.  His  festival  is  September  9.  He 
is  compared  in  the  "Martyrology  of  Donegal" 
to  Christ  in  that  his  father  was  a  carpenter,  that 
his  life  was  wonderfully  holy  and  that  he  died 
about  the  same  age. 

Saint  Ciaran 

Saint  Ciaran,  or  Kieran,  of  Saighir  (Serkei- 
ran,  in  Kings  County),  the  founder  of  the  See 
of  Ossory  in  the  fifth  century,  is  sometimes 
styled  the  "first-born  of  the  saints  of  Ireland." 
He  was  born  on  Cape  Clear  Island,  where  he 
afterwards  founded  a  church.  He  is  said  to 
have  been  one  of  Saint  Patrick's  earliest  dis- 
ciples, and  one  of  Saint  Finen's  scholars;  he  es- 
tablished a  monastic  institution  at  Saighir.  By 
some  he  is  supposed  to  have  died  in  Cornwall 
and  to  have  been  identical  with  Saint  Piran, 
whose  little  Church  of  Piranzabuloe  was  pre- 
served intact  for  centuries  covered  with  sand. 
His  festival  is  March  15. 

Saint  Finen 

Saint  Finen,  or  Finnian,  Bishop  of  Clonard, 
was  a  native  of  Leinster,  born  the  end  of  the  fifth 
century.  He  was  educated  under  Bishop  Fort- 
chern  at  Roscor,  and  when  thirty  years  of  age 
traveled  in  Britain,  and  became  acquainted  with 
British  saints  and  missionaries.  Finen  ulti- 
mately returned  with  several  ecclesiastics,  and, 
landing  at  Carn,  in  County  Wexford,  settled  at 


370  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Clonard,  on  the  Boyne,  about  530,  and  founded 
there  the  renowned  school  with  which  his  name 
has  since  been  associated.  Among  his  pupils 
were  Ciaran  and  St.  Columba. 

We  are  told  that  "his  usual  food  was  bread 
and  herbs;  his  drink,  water.  On  festival  days 
he  used  to  indulge  himself  with  a  little  fish  and 
a  cup  of  beer  or  whey.  He  slept  on  the  bare 
ground  and  a  stone  served  him  as  a  pillow."  He 
died  at  Clonard,  in  552.  He  is  the  patron  saint 
of  the  diocese  of  Meath,  and  his  effigy  is  on  the 
seal  of  the  clergy.  His  festival  is  December 
12.  The  "Martyrology  of  Donegal"  styles  him 
"a  doctor  of  wisdom,  and  tutor  of  the  saints  of 
Ireland  in  his  time." 

Saint  Jarlath 

Saint  Jarlath,  or  larlath,  of  Tuam,  the  son 
of  Loga,  was  born  about  the  beginning  of  the 
sixth  century.  He  was  the  first  bishop  of  Tuam, 
of  which  he  is  the  patron  saint,  and  where  his 
memory  has  ever  been  highly  venerated.  He  es- 
tablished a  school  where  several  eminent  men  of 
the  time  were  educated.  He  died  at  Tuam,  in 
540.  December  26  is  observed  as  his  festival. 
He  should  not  be  confounded  with  St.  larlath,  or 
Jarlath,  third  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  who  died 
February  11,  482. 

Saint  Finbarr 

Saint  Finbarr,  or  Finn  Barr,  first  Bishop  of 
Cork,  a  native  of  Connaught,  was  born  in  the 
sixth  century,  his  original  name  being  Lochan. 
He  was  educated  in  Leinster  by  MacCorb,  after- 
wards traveled  in  Britain  with  St.  Maidoc  and 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  371 

spent  some  time  with  St.  David.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  the  seventh  century  he  founded  his  mon- 
astery on  the  banks  of  the  Lee,  on  land  granted 
to  him  by  a  chief,  Aedh.  The  number  of  stu- 
dents who  flocked  there  caused  habitations  to 
spring  up  and  the  foundations  of  the  city  of  Cork 
to  be  laid.  He  was  consecrated  bishop  of  the  dis- 
trict and  died  in  630,  at  Cloyne,  after  an  epis- 
copate of  seventeen  years.  The  most  eminent  of 
his  disciples  was  St.  Nessan. 

One  of  St.  Finbarr's  favorite  retreats  was 
Glengarifif.  His  festival  is  September  25.  The 
island  in  Lough  Ere  (now  Gougane  Barra)  was 
his  hermitage.  He  is  also  patron  saint  of  a 
northern  diocese  in  Scotland.  Dr.  Richard  Caul- 
field  of  Cork  has  published  his  life  in  Latin,  with 
a  collation  of  various  MSS.  The  antique  and 
picturesque  hermitage  of  St.  Finbarr  occupies  a 
small  island  in  a  lake  in  the  west  end  of  County 
Cork,  within  a  beautiful  valley,  shut  in  by  wild 
and  precipitous  mountains,  made  famous  by  the 
well  known  lines  of  J.  J.  Callanan,  the  poet. 


Saint  Feichin 

Saint  Feichin,  or  Fechin,  said  to  have  been 
descended  from  Con  the  Hundred  Fighter,  was 
born  early  in  the  seventh  century.  Having  fin- 
ished his  studies  under  St.  Nathy  and  being  or- 
dained for  the  priesthood,  he  retired  to  Fore,  in 
County  West  Meath,  where  he  established  a 
community  of  300  monks.  He  founded  another 
establishment  on  the  island  of  Inishmaan,  one  of 
the  Arran  Islands,  off  the  coast  of  Galway.  Most 
of  his  life  was  passed  in  retirement  and  self- 
mortification,  and  he  died  of  a  pestilence  that 


372  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

raged  over  Ireland  in  665.  His  festival  is  Janu- 
ary 20.  This  saint  is  venerated  in  Scotland  as 
St.  Vigeon. 

Saint  Fachtna 

Saint  Fachtna  was  established  as  first 
bishop  of  Ross  before  570,  having  been  previ- 
ously abbot  of  Molana,  a  monastery  on  an  island 
in  the  River  Blackwater,  in  County  Waterford. 
His  school  at  Ross  (Ross  Carbery,  in  County 
Cork)  was  one  of  the  most  celebrated  in  Ireland, 
and  continued  to  be  so  considered  even  after  his 
death,  which  took  place  in  his  forty-sixth  year, 
towards  the  close  of  the  sixth  century.  His  festi- 
val is  August  14. 

Saint  Senan 

Saint  Senan  was  born  about  488,  in  Tho- 
mond.  Disgusted  with  the  wars  and  outrages 
going  on  around  him,  he  placed  himself  under 
the  abbot  Cassidan,  took  the  monastic  habit,  and 
about  534  founded  the  religious  establishment  of 
Inishscattery,  on  an  island  in  the  Shannon,  and 
afterwards  several  of  the  cells  and  oratories  on 
the  remote  islands  off  Clare  and  Kerry.  Dr. 
Lanigan  relates  how  a  lady  of  Bantry,  after- 
wards canonized  as  St.  Cannera,  sought  permis- 
sion to  receive  the  viaticum,  and  to  be  buried  in 
Inishscattery.  At  first  the  Saint  positively  re- 
fused; but  at  length,  understanding  she  was  near 
death,  permitted  her  to  spend  the  last  few  days 
of  her  life  on  the  island,  and  there  gave  her  body 
a  resting  place.    Senan  himself  died  about  544. 

Lanigan  says:  "The  reputation  of  St. 
Senan  has  not  been  confined  to  Ireland,  and  his 
acts  have  been  published  among  those  of  the 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  373 

saints  of  Brittany  on  the  supposition,  whether 
well  founded  or  not,  that  he  was  the  same  as  St. 
Sane,  one  of  the  chief  patrons  of  the  diocese  of 
St.  Pol  de  Leon."    His  festival  is  March  1. 


Saint  Ita 

Saint  Ita,  so  called  "from  the  ita  (thirst)  of 
the  love  of  God  which  she  had,"  flourished  in  the 
sixth  century.  "Deirdre  was  her  first  name"; 
she  was  also  known  as  Mide.  Born  in  the  pres- 
ent County  Waterford  about  480,  she  became 
one  of  the  most  venerated  of  Irish  saints. 
O'Hanlon  devotes  five  chapters  of  his  great  work 
to  the  particulars  of  her  life,  and  gives  an  en- 
graving of  the  ruins  of  her  church  of  Killeedy, 
in  County  Limerick,  where  she  is  chiefly  ven- 
erated. She  died  in  570;  her  festival  is  Jan- 
nary  15. 

Saint  Finan 

Saint  Finan,  born  in  Ireland,  was  in  651  ap- 
pointed successor  of  St.  Aidan  as  Bishop  of  Lin- 
disfarne,  an  island  off  the  eastern  coast  of  North- 
umbria.  He  appears  to  have  been  educated  at 
lona.  In  his  efforts  for  the  conversion  of  the 
surrounding  people,  he  was  ably  assisted  by 
King  Oswin,  and  he  is  specially  noticed  by  the 
Venerable  Bede  as  having  borne  an  important 
part  in  the  conversion  of  the  northern  Saxons. 
In  the  difference  concerning  the  time  for  holding 
Easter,  he  held  to  the  precedents  of  the  Western 
Church.  He  died  towards  the  close  of  the 
seventh  century,  and  his  festival  is  generally  cel- 
ebrated January  9. 


374  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Saint  Canice 

Saint  Canice,  Cainneach,  or  Kenny,  patron 
of  Kilkenny  (with  which  locality  the  events  of 
his  life  are  slightly,  if  at  all,  connected),  the  son 
of  Laidec,  a  poet,  and  Mella,  was  born  at  Glen- 
given,  in  Ulster,  in  514.  In  his  fourteenth  year 
he  was  sent  to  Wales,  where  he  studied  under 
St.  Docus.  Ordained  priest,  he  is  said  to  have 
proceeded  to  Rome,  and  on  his  return  he  exerted 
himself  to  extirpate  the  remains  of  paganism  in 
Ireland.  He  was  intimate  with  SS.  Comgall  and 
Columba.  *'The  Martyrology  of  Donegal"  says 
of  him:  "Aghaboe,  in  Queen's  County,  was  his 
principal  church.  ...  A  very  ancient  old  vellum 
book  states  that  Cainneach  was,  in  his  habits  and 
life,  like  unto  Philip  the  Apostle.  .  .  .  Eighty- 
four  years  was  his  age  when  he  sent  his  spirit  to 
heaven,  A.  D.  598."    His  festival  is  October  11. 

Saint  Flannan 

Saint  Flannan,  a  confessor  and  Bishop  of 
Killaloe,  who  flourished  in  the  seventh  century, 
was  the  son  of  Turlough,  King  of  Thomond. 
Educated  in  the  monastery  founded  by  St. 
Molua,  he  ultimately  retired  to  Lismore,  where 
he  was  joined  by  his  father,  who  resigned  his 
throne.  We  are  told  that  he  spent  much  time  in 
this  retreat  between  "the  soaring  mountains  on 
the  north  and  the  thick  and  extensive  forests  on 
the  south."  Archaeologists  have  maintained  that 
the  traces  of  artistic  taste  acquired  during  a  so- 
journ in  Rome  are  evident  in  the  churches 
erected  at  St.  Flannan  in  Munster.  He  died 
"full  of  years,"  and  was  buried  at  Killaloe,  of 
which  he  was  the  first  bishop.  His  festival  is 
December  19. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  375 


Saint  Fursa 

Saint  Fursa,  or  Fursey,  flourished  early  in 
the  seventh  century.  "Among  the  Irish  saints/' 
says  Dr.  Reeves,  "who  are  but  sHghtly  commem- 
orated at  home,  yet  whose  praise  is  in  all  the 
churches,  St.  Fursa  holds  a  conspicuous  place. 
With  Venerable  Bede  as  a  guarantee  of  his  ex- 
traction, piety  and  labors,  and  above  a  dozen  dif- 
ferent memoirs,  of  various  ages,  which  were 
found  on  the  continent  in  Colgan's  time,  the  his- 
tory of  this  saint  is  established  on  the  firmest 
basis."  He  was  the  son  of  Fintan,  a  prince  of 
Munster,  and  Gelgis,  daughter  of  a  chief  of 
Brefny;  he  was  born  near  Lough  Corrib.  When 
he  had  grown  up  he  placed  himself  under  St. 
Meldan,  who  was  then  abbot  of  a  monastery  in 
Lough  Corrib.  How  long  he  continued  there  is 
not  narrated.  On  leaving  St.  Meldan  he  erected 
a  monastery  at  Rathmat,  on  the  shores  of  the 
before-mentioned  lake. 

We  then  read  of  his  traveling  in  Munster, 
and  during  an  illness  witnessing  some  wonder- 
ful visions,  which  caused  him  to  abandon  the 
idea  of  returning  to  his  monastery  and  to  make  a 
circuit  of  the  country,  relating  what  he  had  seen 
and  exhorting  the  people  to  repentance  and 
amendment  of  life.  He  thus  spent  fourteen 
years  in  Ireland  and  then  crossed  over  to  Eng- 
land, where  he  preached  the  gospel  with  his  usual 
success  among  the  East  Angles.  In  a  fort  now 
known  as  Burg  Castle,  in  Suffolk,  granted  him 
by  King  Sigbert,  he  founded  another  monastery 
between  the  years  633  and  639.  Afterwards  he 
gave  up  the  charge  of  this  place  to  his  brother 
and  two  priests,  and  then  spending  a  year  with 


376  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

another  brother,  Ultan,  passed  over  to  France; 
and  at  Lagny,  on  the  Marne,  erected  a  rehgious 
estabhshment,  where  he  was  joined  by  several 
brethren  from  Ireland.  In  648  he  founded  the 
monastery  of  Foss.  His  death  is  believed  to 
have  taken  place  while  sojourning  with  his 
friend,  Duke  Haimon,  in  Ponthieu,  on  his  way  to 
visit  Ireland,  about  649,  and  his  body  was  ulti- 
mately brought  to  Peronne  and  there  interred. 

A  calendar  of  Scottish  saints  says:  "The 
reputation  of  St.  Fursa  extends  far  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  Scoto-Irish  church.  Not  only  is  he 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  those  mission- 
aries who  left  Erin  to  spread  the  gospel  through 
the  heathen  and  semi-heathenized  races  of 
mediaeval  Europe,  bridging  the  gap  between  the 
old  and  the  new  civilizations,  but  his  position  in 
view  of  dogma  is  a  most  important  one;  for  the 
vision  of  St.  Fursa  contributed  much  to  define 
the  conceptions  of  men  with  regard  to  that  mys- 
terious region  on  which  every  man  enters  after 
death."    His  festival  is  January  16. 

Saint  Fridolin 

Saint  Fridolin,  patron  of  the  Canton  of 
Glarus  in  Switzerland,  was  an  Irish  missionary 
who  flourished  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventh 
century.  The  German  form  of  his  name  *'is  to  be 
accounted  for  by  the  common  practice  of  trans- 
lating Celtic  names,  or  accommodating  them  by 
transformations,  more  or  less  violent,  to  the 
genius  of  the  languages  spoken  in  the  regions 
where  the  Irish  missionaries  settled."  All  au- 
thorities refer  his  birth  and  mission  to  Ireland, 
from  which  country  he  set  out  as  a  pilgrim.  He 
is  often  styled  "Viator,"  which  title  is  borne  out 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  377 

by  his  appearance  on  the  seal  and  banner  of 
Glarus.  He  finally  settled  on  the  island  of  Seck- 
ingen  in  the  Rhine,  above  Basle,  and  there  his  re- 
mains are  said  to  have  been  buried.  His  festi- 
val is  March  6. 

Saint  Feargal 

Saint  Feargal,  Fergil,  or  Virgilius,  Bishop 
of  Salzburg,  v^as  a  learned  native  of  Ireland,  who 
arrived  in  France  before  746.  He  was  hospitably 
received  by  Pepin,  son  of  Charles  Martel,  re- 
mained with  him  two  years  and  then  proceeded 
to  Bavaria,  where  he  had  a  dispute  with  St.  Boni- 
face relative  to  baptism.  He  was  appointed 
Bishop  of  Salzburg  by  Pope  Stephen  II.,  in  756. 
He  died  in  785,  and  was  canonized  by  Pope  Greg- 
ory in  1233.  November  27  is  the  date  of  his 
festival. 

Frances  Ball 

Frances  Ball,  called  Mother  Frances  Mary 
Teresa,  was  the  daughter  of  a  wealthy  merchant 
of  Dublin,  where  she  was  born  January  9,  1791. 
At  the  age  of  twenty  she  joined  the  Institute  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  at  York,  England.  This  sis- 
terhood, which  had  long  existed  at  York,  was 
originally  established  on  the  continent  in  the 
seventeenth  century  by  Mary  Ward,  to  supply 
the  means  for  a  religious  and  secular  education 
for  young  ladies.  Frances  Ball  introduced  this 
institute  into  Ireland  in  1821,  and  since  then  it 
has  spread  to  most  of  the  British  colonies,  where 
the  nuns  are  usually  called  Sisters  of  Loreto. 
During  her  busy  life  this  pious  mother  founded 
thirty-seven   convents   in  various  parts   of  the 


378  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

world.     She  died  at  Rathfarnham  Abbey,  Ire- 
land, May  19,  1861. 

John  De  Burgo 

John  De  Burgo,  Vicar-Apostolic  of  Killala. 
He  left  Ireland  in  his  youth,  and  served  as  an 
officer  in  the  Austrian  army.  He  afterwards  en- 
tered the  church,  and  was  appointed  Abbot  of 
Clare,  from  1647  to  1650  acting  as  Vicar-General 
of  Killaloe.  Three  years  later  he  was  arrested 
by  Cromwell's  orders,  and  sent  into  banishment. 
He  exercised  clerical  functions  in  France  and 
Italy  until  1671,  when  he  was  appointed  Vicar- 
Apostolic  of  Killala,  and  returned  to  Ireland.  In 
1674  he  was  arrested  on  the  charge  of  "bringing 
Protestants  to  the  Catholic  faith,"  "preaching 
perverse  doctrine,"  and  "remaining  in  the  king- 
dom." 

After  two  years'  imprisonment,  having  re- 
fused many  offers  of  advancement  if  he  would 
join  the  Established  Church,  he  was  sentenced  to 
confiscation  of  his  goods  and  banished  to  the  con- 
tinent. In  compliance  with  a  vow  made  while  in 
confinement,  he  visited  Palestine  during  his  exile, 
and  was  captured  by  pirates  and  sold  as  a  slave. 
He  eventually  found  means  to  escape  to  Con- 
stantinople, and  thence  to  Rome,  where  he  ended 
his  days. 

James  Ussher 

James  Ussher,  Anglican  Archbishop  of  Ar- 
magh, was  born  in  the  parish  of  St.  Nicholas, 
Dublin,  January  4,  1581.  His  father  a  clerk  in 
the  Court  of  Chancery,  was  said  to  have  been 
descended  from  one  Neville,  who  went  to  Ire- 
land with  King  John  in  the  capacity  of  usher, 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  379 

and  changed  his  name  to  that  of  his  office.  From 
eight  to  thirteen  years  of  age  he  attended  the 
school  kept  by  Fullerton  and  Hamilton,  private 
emissaries  of  James  VI.  of  Scotland,  sent  to  keep 
up  his  influence  in  Ireland,  in  view  of  the  pros- 
pect of  his  succeeding  to  the  throne  of  England 
and  Ireland. 

Ussher's  name  stands  second  on  the  list  of 
those  admitted  to  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  when 
first  opened,  January  9,  1594.  There  he  studied 
with  ardor,  devoting  himself  especially  to  his- 
torical and  chronological  inquiries.  His  imme- 
diate relations  were  divided  between  the  re- 
formed and  the  Catholic  faith,  and  the  religious 
controversies  of  the  day  had  thus  for  him  an 
intense  and  personal  interest.  His  uncle,  Rich- 
ard Stanyhurst,  a  Jesuit,  endeavored  to  attract 
him  towards  Catholicity;  but  as  he  advanced  in 
years,  Ussher  became  more  and  more  confirmed 
in  the  Protestant  tenets  in  which  he  had  been 
brought  up. 

At  an  early  age  he  commenced  reading  the 
whole  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church,  a  prodigious 
labor,  which  he  did  not  bring  to  an  end  for  eight- 
een years.  He  took  the  degree  of  B.  A.  in  1597, 
and,  greatly  against  his  will,  was  preparing  to 
abandon  theology  and  commence  the  study  of 
law,  when  the  death  of  his  father  left  him  at  lib- 
erty to  follow  his  own  bent.  He  made  over  the 
family  property  to  his  sisters,  taking  but  a  small 
sum  for  the  purchase  of  books  and  his  support 
in  the  cheapest  way  in  college. 

In  1600  he  took  the  degree  of  M.  A.,  and 
was  elected  to  a  fellowship,  and,  although  not 
ordained  until  December,  1601,  he  was  occa- 
sionally selected  to  preach  in  Christ  Church, 
Dublin,  before  the  Irish  Court.    As  with  many 


38o  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

earnest  men  of  the  time,  toleration  was  hateful 
to  him,  and  he  exerted  his  influence  to  have  the 
laws  against  the  Catholics  put  rigidly  in  force. 

In  1605  he  was  appointed  Chancellor  of  St. 
Patrick's,  Dublin,  and  rector  of  Finglas.  From 
this  time  he  visited  England  every  few  years  for 
the  purpose  of  consulting  books  and  manuscripts 
at  the  great  libraries,  becoming  intimate  with 
Camden,  Sir  Robert  Cotton,  and  other  eminent 
men.  These  visits  were  generally  of  three 
months'  duration, — one  month  each  being  passed 
in  Oxford,  Cambridge,  and  London. 

In  1607  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  Di- 
vinity in  Dublin  University;  and  two  years 
afterwards  he  received  an  invitation  to  preach 
before  the  court  in  London.  The  provostship 
of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  was  pressed  upon 
him,  but  he  declined,  fearing  that  its  duties  might 
interfere  with  his  studies.  In  1612  he  took  the 
degree  of  D.  D.,  and  next  year  published  his  first 
work,  dedicated  to  James  I.,  which  drew  forth 
an  answer  from  his  Catholic  uncle,  Richard 
Stanyhurst,  then  in  exile  on  the  continent. 

In  the  beginning  of  1614  he  married  his 
cousin,  Phoebe,  daughter  of  Dr.  Lucas  Challoner, 
vice-chancellor  of  the  university.  At  the  Irish 
Convocation  of  1615  he  probably  drew  up  the 
104  Articles  then  accepted,  which  differed  con- 
siderably from  the  English  39  Articles.  In  1614, 
and  again  in  1617,  Ussher  was  chosen  Vice-Chan- 
cellor  of  the  University  of  Dublin,  and  during  a 
stay  in  London  of  nearly  two  years  (1619-21), 
he  recommended  himself  to  James  I.,  and  was 
appointed  to  the  bishopric  of  Meath.  He  was 
consecrated  in  St.  Peter's  Church,  Drogheda. 
His  writings  give  a  deplorable  condition  of  the 
diocese. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  381 

He  continued  to  pay  frequent  visits  to  Lon- 
don, where  he  was  a  special  favorite  with  King 
James,  who  addressed  a  letter  to  the  deputy  and 
council,  directing  them  to  grant  Ussher  leave  of 
absence  for  an  indefinite  period,  and  one  of  the 
king's  last  acts  was  to  appoint  him  Archbishop 
of  Armagh,  in  March,  1625.  Ussher  returned  to 
Ireland  in  August,  1626,  after  a  long  absence, 
and  about  this  period  he  joined  with  other  Prot- 
estant clergymen  in  a  protest  against  granting 
Catholics  any  toleration.  As  there  was  then  no 
archiepiscopal  residence  at  Armagh,  he  lived 
chiefly  at  Drogheda,  while  during  a  plague  he 
took  up  his  residence  at  Lambay  Island. 

His  public  duties  did  not  withdraw  him  from 
the  delights  of  literature.  His  mind  was  chiefly 
directed  towards  biblical  researches,  and  through 
agents  in  the  East  he  procured  several  copies  of 
the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  and  the  Syrian  ver- 
sion of  the  Old  Testament.  With  the  view  of  up- 
holding English  influence  by  exterminating  the 
Irish  language,  he  opposed  Bishop  Bedell's  efforts 
for  the  translation  and  dissemination  of  the  Bible 
in  Irish. 

He  was  a  warm  friend  and  adviser  of  Lord 
Wentworth,  afterwards  Earl  of  Strafford,  and 
their  intimacy  terminated  only  when  Ussher 
knelt  beside  the  earl  at  the  block  when  the  latter 
was  executed.  In  the  Convocation  of  1634, 
mainly  through  Strafford's  influence,  the  Eng- 
lish Articles  were  accepted  to  those  previously 
drawn  up  by  the  archbishop,  while  a  separate  set 
of  canons  were  agreed  to. 

One  of  the  best  known  of  Ussher's  works, 
"Britannicarum  Ecclesiarum  Antiquitates,"  was 
published  in  August,  1639.     It  had  been  com- 


382  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

menced  at  the  request  of  King  James,  twenty 
years  previously. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  of  1641,  he 
retired  to  England,  and  was  appointed  by  Charles 
I.  to  the  see  of  Carlisle.  In  1642  he  went  to 
Oxford,  where  he  continued  to  avail  himself  of 
the  treasures  of  the  Bodleian  Library.  While 
here  numbers  came  to  hear  him,  and  he  often 
preached  before  the  king.  He  refused  to  attend 
the  assembly  of  Divines  at  Westminster  in  1643, 
and  preached  against  its  authority.  The  House 
of  Commons  thereupon  confiscated  his  valuable 
library,  but  much  of  it  was  rescued  through  the 
kindness  of  a  friend,  who  bought  it  back  for 
him. 

When  Oxford  was  about  to  be  besieged, 
the  archbishop  accompanied  the  Prince  of  Wales 
to  Bristol.  He  afterwards  proceeded  to  Cardiff, 
where,  after  the  battle  of  Naseby,  he  was  joined 
by  the  king.  Greatly  perplexed  as  to  a  choice  of 
residence,  he  at  one  time  entertained  serious 
thoughts  of  embarking  for  France  or  Holland, 
but  ultimately  accepted  the  invitation  of  Lady 
Stradling  to  her  castle  of  St.  Donat's  in  Glamor- 
ganshire. On  his  way  there,  he  and  his  daughter 
were  roughly  handled  by  some  bands  of  English 
soldiers,  and  he  lost  several  of  his  most  valuable 
manuscripts.  At  St.  Donat's  he  was  kindly 
treated,  and  the  extensive  library  in  the  castle 
enabled  him  to  turn  his  sojourn  to  good  account. 

In  1646  his  old  friend,  the  Countess  of  Peter- 
borough, prevailed  upon  him  to  return  to  Lon- 
don,— her  influence  securing  him  from  molesta- 
tion by  the  parliament.  From  the  roof  of  her 
house  Ussher  had  the  pain  of  seeing  the  king  led 
forth  to  the  scaffold.    It  is  related  that  he  fainted 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  383 

at  the  sight,  and  had  to  be  carried  to  bed.  He 
still  continued  to  labor  industriously  at  his  books, 
and  in  1650  published  the  first  part  of  his  Bible 
Chronology,  from  which  the  dates  given  in  the 
present  authorized  version  are  taken.  Five  years 
afterwards  failing  health  obliged  him  to  resign 
his  appointment  of  preacher  to  the  Benchers  of 
Lincoln's  Inn. 

He  would  have  declined  Cromwell's  occa- 
sional invitations  to  conferences  on  religious 
matters  and  the  promotion  of  Protestant  inter- 
ests at  home  and  abroad,  but  that  his  refusal 
might  have  militated  against  the  welfare  of  his 
brother  clergy.  He  accepted  from  the  Lord  Pro- 
tector the  grant  of  a  lease  for  twenty  years  of  a 
portion  of  the  primatial  lands  at  Armagh,  which, 
however,  does  not  appear  to  have  been  confirmed. 
Pie  received  one  payment  at  least  of  a  quarterly 
allowance  of  £  100  from  parliament. 

The  infirmities  of  age  were  now  pressing 
upon  him,  and  he  died  in  Ryegate,  in  Surrey, 
March  21,  1656.    His  wife  died  in  1654. 

Cromwell  honored  his  remains  with  a  stately 
funeral  at  Westminster  Abbey,  but  is  said  to  have 
left  his  daughter  to  pay  the  greater  portion  of 
the  expenses  out  of  her  scanty  means. 

Archbishop  Ussher  is  described  as  well  built 
and  moderately  tall,  of  an  erect  carriage,  with 
brown  hair  and  a  ruddy  complexion.  His  vig- 
orous constitution  and  temperate  habits  enabled 
him  to  bear  a  life  of  incessant  study.  He  was  of 
a  deeply  religious  cast  of  mind, — his  narrow 
views  being  a  fault  common  to  most  earnest  men 
in  that  intolerant  age. 

A  voluminous  writer  both  in  Latin  and  Eng- 
lish, there  are  some  forty  of  his  works  in  the  list 
in  Harris'  "Ware,"    Perhaps  one  of  the  most  im- 


384  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

portant  of  them  was  "Annales  Veteris  Testa- 
menti,"  London,  1650.  That  relating  to  Ireland 
most  frequently  quoted  is  his  "Religion  Anciently- 
Professed  by  the  Irish  and  English,"  London, 
1631.  An  edition  of  the  "Whole  Works  of  Arch- 
bishop Ussher,"  in  seventeen  volumes,  was  pub- 
lished at  the  expense  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin, 
between  1848  and  1864.  It  contains  much  mat- 
ter for  the  first  time  printed,  and  Dr.  Elrington 
is  said  to  have  devoted  nearly  twenty  years  of 
his  life  to  its  preparation.  At  his  death  in  1850, 
volume  XIV.  remained  unfinished,  which  was 
completed  by  Dr.  Reeves,  who  also  compiled  the 
indexes   which   form   the   substance   of  volume 

xvn. 

Dr.  Elrington  says:  "The  works  which  he 
had  published  sufficiently  attest  the  stupendous 
extent  of  his  information,  and  the  skill  with 
which  he  could  make  use  of  the  treasures  he  pos- 
sessed. His  name  became  celebrated  throughout 
Europe,  and  his  services  to  the  cause  of  litera- 
ture, more  especially  in  the  department  of  his- 
tory and  chronology,  have  been  acknowledged 
by  all  modern  writers." 

Ussher  had  intended  to  bequeath  his  mag- 
nificent library  of  10,000  volumes  to  Trinity  Col- 
lege; but  the  shattered  state  of  his  finances  com- 
pelled him  to  leave  it  as  an  only  provision  for  his 
daughter.  The  King  of  Denmark  and  Cardinal 
Mazarin  competed  for  its  purchase.  Cromwell, 
however,  refused  to  let  it  out  of  the  kingdom,  and 
obliged  his  daughter  to  accept  the  insufficient 
sum  of  £2,200  subscribed  by  the  army  of  Ire- 
land for  the  library,  as  a  donation  to  Trinity  Col- 
lege, Dublin.  On  the  receipt  of  the  books  in 
Dublin,  they  were  retained  at  the  castle,  open  to 
depredations,  and  it  was  not  until  the  Restora- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  385 

tion  that  the  remnant  of  them  were  handed  over 
to  the  college  library,  where  they  now  remain. 

Ambrose  Ussher,  the  archbishop's  brother, 
a  fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  was  a  man 
of  some  eminence.  According  to  "Ware,"  the 
library  of  the  college  was  enriched  with  thirty- 
five  manuscripts  in  his  handwriting,  including  a 
complete  translation  of  the  Bible,  and  an  "Arabic 
Dictionary  and  Grammar."  His  mother  became 
a  Catholic  before  her  death.  One  of  his  descend- 
ants, James  Ussher,  a  native  of  Ireland,  Catholic 
clergyman  and  author,  died  in  1772. 

Anna  Maria  Hall 

Anna  Maria  Hall,  novelist  and  miscellaneous 
writer,  was  born  in  Dublin,  January  6,  1800.  Her 
maiden  name,  Anna  Maria  Fielding,  was  not 
known  in  the  literary  world,  her  first  work  being 
published  after  her  marriage  to  Samuel  Carter 
Hall,  in  1824.  At  fifteen  she  accompanied  her 
mother  to  England,  and  it  was  some  time  before 
she  revisited  her  native  country;  but  the  scenes 
which  were  familiar  to  her  as  a  child  had  made 
such  a  vivid  and  lasting  impression  on  her  mind, 
and  all  her  sketches  showed  so  much  freshness 
and  vigor,  that  her  readers  might  well  imagine 
she  had  spent  her  life  among  the  scenes  she  de- 
scribes. To  her  early  absence  from  her  native 
country  is  partly  at  least  to  be  traced  one  note- 
worthy characteristic  of  all  her  writings, — the 
absence  of  party  feeling  on  politics  or  religion. 

Mrs.  Hall's  first  recorded  contribution  to 
periodical  literature  was  an  Irish  sketch  called 
"Master  Ben,"  which  appeared  in  The  Spirit  and 
Manners  of  the  Age,  in  1829.  Other  tales  fol- 
lowed.   Eventually  they  were  collected  in  a  vol- 


386  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

ume  entitled  "Sketches  of  Irish  Character,"  1829. 
The  "Sketches"  have  much  fine  description  and 
are  instinct  not  merely  with  sound  and  kindly 
feeling,  but  true  and  delicate  humor.  A  second 
series  of  "Sketches  of  Irish  Character"  (1831) 
was  quite  equal  to  the  first;  some  of  the  satirical 
presentations  are  depicted  with  great  truth  and 
liveliness. 

In  1832  Mrs.  Hall  ventured  on  a  historical 
romance,  "The  Buccaneer,"  the  scene  being  laid 
in  England  at  the  time  of  the  Protectorate,  and 
Cromwell  himself  appearing  among  the  charac- 
ters. The  plot  is  well  managed,  and  some  of 
the  characters, — notably  that  of  Barbara  the 
Puritan, — are  excellent;  but  the  work  is  too 
feminine,  and  too  little  of  energetic  passion  for 
the  stormy  times  in  which  it  is  cast.  Her  "Tales 
of  Woman's  Trials"  (1834)  are  short  stories  in 
her  happiest  style.  "Uncle  Horace"  (1835)  was 
a  novel.  "Lights  and  Shadows  of  Irish  Life" 
(three  volumes,  1838),  originally  published  in 
the  New  Monthly  Magazine,  was  extraordinarily 
popular;  the  principal  story,  "The  Groves  of 
Blarney,"  was  dramatized  and  played  with  emi- 
nent success.  "Marian;  or,  A  Young  Maid's 
Fortunes"  (1840)  makes  full  use  again  of  Mrs. 
Hall's  knowledge  of  Irish  character.  "Stories  of 
the  Irish  Peasantry,"  contributed  to  Chamber's 
Edinburgh  Journal,  were  afterwards  published 
in  a  collected  form. 

In  1840  Mrs.  Hall  aided  her  husband  in  an 
elaborately  illustrated  work  in  three  volumes, 
"Ireland:  Its  Scenery  and  Character,"  skilfully 
blending  topographical  and  statistical  informa- 
tion with  the  poetical  and  romantic  features  of 
the  country,  the  legends  of  the  peasantry,  and 
scenes  and  characters  of  humor  or  pathos.   "The 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  387 

Whiteboy"  (1845)  is  usually  reckoned  her  best 
novel.  Other  works  were  a  fairy  tale,  "Midsum- 
mer Eve,"  1845;  "A  Woman's  Story,"  1857; 
"Can  Wrong  Be  Right?"  1862;  and  "The  Fight 
of  Faith,"  1868-69.  To  her  husband's  Art  Jour- 
nal Mrs.  Hall  contributed  many  picturesque 
sketches,  some  of  which  were  reissued  as  "Pil- 
grimages to  English  Shrines"  and  "The  Book  of 
the  Thames."  She  also  produced  a  volume  for 
children,  "Chronicles  of  a  School  Room,"  1830. 

Mrs.  Hall  was  instrumental  in  founding  the 
Hospital  for  Consumptives  at  Brompton,  the 
Governesses'  Institution,  the  Home  for  Decayed 
Gentlewomen,  and  the  Nightingale  Fund.  Her 
benevolence  was  of  the  most  practical  nature; 
she  worked  for  the  temperance  cause,  for 
women's  rights,  and  for  the  friendless  and  fallen. 
She  died  at  Devon  Lodge,  East  Moulsey,  Eng- 
land, January  30,  1881. 

Her  husband,  Samuel  Carter  Hall,  who  was 
born  near  Waterford  in  1800,  the  son  of  an  Eng- 
lish officer,  came  to  London  in  1821,  acted  as  par- 
liamentary reporter  in  the  House  of  Lords,  wrote 
for  various  papers,  edited  the  New  Monthly 
Magazine,  and  in  1839  established  and  edited  the 
Art  Journal,  which  he  conducted  until  1880.  The 
works  written  and  edited  by  him  and  his  wife, 
alone  or  often  conjointly,  exceed  five  hundred 
volumes;  of  these  his  "Retrospect  of  a  Long 
Life"  (two  volumes,  1883)  is  a  series  of  jottings, 
not  a  set  autobiography.  He  died  March  16, 
1889,  in  London,  England. 

George  Canning 

George  Canning,  author,  a  native  of  Ireland, 
appears  to  have  taken  his  degree  of  B.  A.  at  the 


388  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

University  of  Dublin  in  1754.  His  father,  a  gen- 
tleman of  property  in  the  North  of  Ireland,  dis- 
inherited him  for  marrying,  in  1768,  Miss  Cos- 
tello,  a  dowerless  beauty.  George  Canning  was 
the  author  of  some  poems,  and  of  a  translation 
of  "Anti-Lucretius."  He  was  admitted  to  the 
bar,  but  never  pursued  his  profession  with  ear- 
nestness, and  his  sojourn  in  London,  on  an  al- 
lowance from  his  father  of  £150  per  annum, 
was  a  perpetual  struggle  against  adverse  cir- 
cumstances. Nevertheless  he  and  his  wife  were 
received  into  some  of  the  best  literary  circles, 
and  led  a  respected,  if  not  a  contented  and  happy, 
life.  He  died  in  the  Temple,  London,  April  11, 
1771,  one  year  after  the  birth  of  his  son,  the  great 
George  Canning. 

Timothy  Charles  Harrington 

Timothy  Charles  Harrington,  son  of  Denis 
and  Eilleen  O'Sullivan  Harrington,  was  born  in 
Castletown,  Bearhaven,  County  Cork,  in  1851. 
In  early  life  he  became  a  teacher  in  the  National 
Schools  of  Ireland,  but  finally  made  his  way  into 
politics  through  the  channels  of  journalism.  In 
1877  he  founded  the  Kerry  Sentinel  newspaper 
and  soon  acquired  a  reputation  as  a  journalist 
and  politician  of  strong  character  and  ability.  In 
1882,  on  the  request  of  Charles  Stewart  Parnell, 
he  was  made  secretary  of  the  Land  League,  the 
success  of  which  was  due  largely  to  his  energy 
and  activity.  He  afterwards  held  a  similar  posi- 
tion in  the  National  League. 

In  1883  Harrington  was  elected  to  the  House 
of  Commons  for  County  West  Meath  and  in  the 
same  year  was  sentenced  to  a  term  in  Mullingar 
jail  by  the  government  for  "intimidation"  in  a 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  389 

speech  which  he  delivered  in  the  latter  county. 
Two  years  afterwards  he  was  elected  for  the 
Harbor  Division  of  the  city  of  Dublin,  and  held 
that  seat  without  interruption  for  twenty-five 
years.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Irish  bar  in  1887 
and  was  engaged  in  many  political  cases,  includ- 
ing the  Mitchelstown  prosecutions.  He  acted  as 
one  of  Parnell's  counsel  during  the  sitting  of  the 
Special  Commission  in  1888.  He  was  for  many 
years  one  of  the  most  devoted  followers  of  the 
great  statesman,  and  after  the  disunion  of  the 
National  party  in  1890  he  became  a  leading  mem- 
ber of  the  Parnellite  minority.  A  determined  but 
honest  fighter,  he  acquired  a  high  reputation  for 
political  consistency. 

Harrington  was  for  many  years  associated 
with  municipal  affairs  in  Dublin.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  North  Dublin  Union  and  of  the  Port 
and  Docks  Board.  Three  times  Lord  Mayor  of 
Dublin,— in  1901,  1902,  and  1903,— he  controlled 
the  affairs  of  the  corporation  with  impartiality, 
and  was  popular  among  all  classes.  During  his 
second  term  as  Lord  Mayor  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Round  Table  Conference  in  Dublin  which 
laid  the  foundation  for  the  Land  Act  of  1903.  He 
was  a  director  of  various  public  companies,  and 
in  1909  was  made  clerk  of  the  committee  ap- 
pointed in  Dublin  to  administer  the  Old-Age 
Pension  Act.  He  died  in  Dublin,  March  12,  1910, 
being  survived  by  his  wife  and  several  children. 

George  D.  Evans 

Sir  George  De  Lacy  Evans,  soldier,  was  born 
at  Moig,  County  Limerick,  October  7,  1787.  He 
entered  the  army  as  ensign  in  1807,  and  having 
served  for  about  three  years  in  India  in  the  oper- 


390  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

ations  against  the  Pindarries,  and  shared  in  the 
capture  of  the  Mauritius,  he  joined  Welhngton's 
army  in  Spain,  in  1810,  and  was  present  at  the 
battles  of  Vittoria,  the  Pyrenees,  and  Toulouse. 

In  1814-15  he  was  engaged  in  America,  and 
took  an  active  part  in  the  battle  of  Bladensburgh 
and  the  operations  at  Washington  and  Balti- 
more. He  was  wounded  at  the  battle  of  New 
Orleans,  in  January,  1815.  He  returned  to  Eng- 
land early  in  the  same  year,  and  took  part  in  the 
action  at  Quatre  Bras  and  in  the  battle  of  Water- 
loo, and  was  employed  on  the  staff  of  the  Duke 
of  Wellington  during  the  occupation  of  Paris. 
From  the  close  of  the  war  he  had  no  active  em- 
ployment until  1835,  when  he  volunteered  to 
undertake  the  command  of  the  British  legion  of 
10,000  men  sent  to  Spain  to  aid  the  Spanish 
Queen  against  Don  Carlos.  He  defeated  the 
Carlists  in  several  actions  and  returned  to  Eng- 
land early  in  1837. 

He  had  already  been  elected  to  parliament 
in  1831,  in  the  liberal  or  radical  interest,  as  mem- 
ber for  Rye,  and  in  May,  1833,  was  elected  for 
Westminster,  which  he  continued  to  represent 
(with  the  exception  of  1841  to  1847)  till  1865, 
when  he  resigned  on  account  of  ill  health.  He 
attained  the  rank  of  major-general  in  1846,  and 
on  the  outbreak  of  the  Russian  war  in  1854  was 
appointed  lieutenant-general  and  given  com- 
mand of  the  second  division.  He  distinguished 
himself  by  his  gallantry  at  the  Alma,  as  well  as 
in  the  attack  of  the  Russians,  October  26,  and  at 
the  battle  of  Inkerman. 

On  his  return  to  England,  invalided,  earl}'- 
in  the  following  year,  he  received  a  vote  of 
thanks  from  both  Houses  of  Parliament.  He 
was  created  K.  C.  B.  in  1838,  and  G.  C.  B.  and 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  391 

honorary  D.  C.  L.  of  Oxford  in  1855.  He  became 
general  in  1861,  and  grand  officer  of  the  Legion 
of  Honor  in  1856.  He  died  in  London,  January 
9,  1870.  He  was  the  author  of  several  works, 
chiefly  on  military  subjects. 

Theobald  Dillon 

Theobald  Dillon,  count,  a  distant  relative  of 
the  eleventh  viscount,  was  born  in  Dublin  about 
1745.  He  joined  the  Irish  brigade  of  the  French 
army  as  a  colonel  of  cavalry,  was  made  briga- 
dier-general in  1780  and  marechal-de-camp  three 
years  afterwards.  He  was  at  the  attack  at 
Grenada  and  the  siege  of  Savannah  in  1779.  He 
favored  the  popular  cause  in  the  French  Revo- 
lution and  was  sent  to  Flanders  in  1792,  when 
France  declared  war  against  Austria.  While  he 
commanded  at  Lille  in  April,  General  Dumouriez 
ordered  him  to  march  on  Tournay  with  ten 
squadrons  of  horse,  six  battalions  of  infantry, 
and  six  pieces  of  artillery,  to  make  a  demonstra- 
tion, but  on  no  account  provoke  a  conflict.  In 
pursuance  of  these  orders,  he  advanced  slowly 
and  with  great  precaution,  having  remarked 
among  his  soldiers  some  symptoms  of  insubordi- 
nation. At  Bessieux,  on  a  road  half  way  between 
the  two  towns,  he  perceived  the  enemy  in  supe- 
rior numbers  moving  forward  to  give  him  battle. 

It  was  the  first  time  for  many  years  that  the 
French  and  Austrians  found  themselves  face  to 
face.  There  was  hesitation  on  both  sides.  The 
Austrians  opened  an  artillery  fire  on  the  French 
troops,  without  any  effect.  Dillon,  true  to  his 
orders,  directed  a  retreat,  covering  it  with  his 
cavalry.  The  infantry  retired  in  good  order; 
but  the  cavalry,  notably  those  of  the  Queen's 


392  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Regiment,  attributing  the  movement  to  an  under- 
standing with  the  enemy,  turned  bridle  and  threw 
themselves  on  the  infantry. 

Meanwhile  the  Austrians,  far  from  pursuing, 
returned  to  Tournay,  while  a  panic  seized  the 
French,  who,  abandoning  two  of  their  pieces  of 
artillery  and  four  caissons,  fled  precipitately  to 
Lille,  despite  all  Dillon's  efforts  to  rally  them. 
The  men  declared  their  oflicers  had  betrayed 
them,  and  massacred  all  without  mercy.  Dillon 
fell  by  a  pistol  bullet,  and  his  body,  after  being 
dragged  about  the  streets,  was  burned  in  the 
market  place,  April  29,  1792.  His  murderers 
were  afterwards  executed,  and  by  order  of  the 
Legislative  Assembly  the  honors  of  the  Pantheon 
were  accorded  to  his  memory,  and  a  pension  was 
granted  to  his  children. 

The  regiment  of  Dillon  had  then  been  com- 
manded by  successive  members  of  this  distin- 
guished family  for  101  years.  At  the  French 
Revolution  it  was,  like  the  other  French  regi- 
ments, deprived  of  its  distinctive  name  and  num- 
bered the  87th.  His  grandson,  Count  Theobald 
Dillon,  died  in  Paris  in  June,  1874.  He  was  much 
interested  in  Irish  affairs  and  at  his  death  was 
engaged  upon  a  work  on  the  Irish  brigades.. 
Several  other  members  of  this  branch  of  the  fam- 
ily, born  in  France  or  England,  have  also  distin- 
guished themselves.  The  descendants  of  the 
three  children  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  were 
living  in  France  at  the  close  of  the  last  century, 
with  the  title  of  counts. 

John  Gore 

Sir  John  Gore,  vice-admiral,  was  born  at 
Kilkenny,  February  9,  1772.    He  joined  the  Can- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  393 

ada,  under  the  command  of  William  Cornwallis, 
in  1781,  and  served  in  her  during  the  West  India 
campaign  of  1782.  In  1789  he  was  promoted 
lieutenant,  and  in  1793  was  appointed  to  the 
Lowestoft,  in  which  he  went  to  the  Mediterra- 
nean. From  her  he  was  transferred  to  the  Brit- 
annia, and  afterwards  into  the  Victory  during 
the  operations  at  Toulon  and  in  Corsica.  On 
the  surrender  of  Bastia,  in  1794,  he  was  promoted 
to  the  command  of  La  Fleche,  a  captured  French 
vessel. 

The  same  year  he  was  posted  in  the  Wind- 
sor Castle,  of  ninety-eight  guns,  and  commanded 
her  in  the  actions  off  Toulon  in  1795.  He  was 
shortly  afterwards  appointed  to  the  Censeur,  and 
taken  prisoner  when  that  ship  was  recaptured  by 
the  French  squadron  off  Cape  St.  Vincent  on  the 
7th  of  October,  After  his  return  home.  Gore 
successively  commanded  the  Robust  and  in  1796 
was  appointed  to  the  Triton,  a  thirty-two-gun 
frigate,  which  he  commanded  in  the  English 
channel  for  nearly  five  years.  In  July,  1803,  he 
was  sent  to  Gibraltar  as  senior  officer  in  com- 
mand of  a  small  squadron  to  cruise  in  the  Straits, 
with  orders  to  look  out  for  French  ships  of  war 
sent  to  strengthen  the  Toulon  fleet.  The  next 
year  he  joined  the  British  squadron  off  Cadiz, 
where  three  Spanish  frigates  were  captured 
carrying  a  valuable  cargo  of  money. 

February  21,  1805,  Gore  was  knighted  and 
sailed  for  Calcutta  on  the  15th  of  April.  Re- 
turning to  England  in  the  following  year,  he 
was  appointed  to  the  Revenge,  in  the  Bay  of  Bis- 
cay. Early  in  1807,  he  joined  Collingwood  off 
Cadiz,  and  continued  there  under  the  command 
of  Rear-Admiral  Purvis  until  June,  1808,  when 
he  carried  the  Spanish  commissioners  of  peace 


394  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

to  England.  From  his  promotion  to  the  rank  of 
rear-admiral  in  1813,  he  commanded  the  detached 
squadron  in  the  Adriatic  until  the  peace.  In 
January,  1815,  Gore  was  nominated  a  K.  C.  B., 
and  from  1818  to  1821  was  commander-in-chief 
at  the  Nore. 

May  27,  1825,  he  was  advanced  to  the  rank 
of  vice-admiral,  and  from  1831  to  1835  he  was 
commander-in-chief  in  the  West  Indies.  During 
this  time  his  only  son,  serving  as  his  flag  lieu- 
tenant, was  drowned  in  attempting  to  save  a  sea- 
man who  had  fallen  overboard.  The  loss  proba- 
bly hastened  his  death,  which  took  place  at 
Datchett,  August  21,  1836,  where  he  was  buried. 
He  married,  in  1808,  the  daughter  of  Admiral 
George  Montagu,  by  whom,  in  addition  to  the 
mentioned  son,  he  had  six  daughters. 

Flaherty  O'Neill 

Flaherty  O'Neill,  Lord  of  Aileach,  on  the 
shores  of  Lough  Swilly,  was  the  first  prominent 
member  of  the  O'Neill  family  whose  name  ap- 
pears in  history,  ruling  his  territories  from  1004 
to  1036.  The  Hy  Neill,  or  the  descendants  of 
the  monarch  Niall  of  the  Nine  Hostages,  were 
divided  into  two  great  branches,  namely,  the 
southern  and  northern. 

The  southern  Hy  Neill  were  kings  of  Meath, 
and  many  of  them  monarchs  of  Ireland.  The 
northern  Hy  Neill,  of  which  there  were  two 
great  branches,  namely,  the  race  of  Eogan,  prin- 
cess of  Tyrone,  and  the  race  of  Conel,  princess 
of  Tirconnell,  also  furnished  many  monarchs  of 
Ireland;  but  the  descendants  of  Eogan  were  the 
most  celebrated  of  all  Milesian  clans;  of  them  a 
great  many  were  kings  of  Ulster,  and  sixteen 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  395 

were  monarchs  of  Ireland.  The  race  of  Eogan 
took  the  name  of  O'Neill  in  the  tenth  century, 
from  Niall  Glunduff  (Black  Knee),  who  was 
killed  in  a  great  battle  with  the  Danes,  near  Dub- 
lin, A.  D.  919.  The  elder  branch  of  the  O'Neill 
took  the  name  of  O'Loughlin  and  MacLaughlin, 
from  one  of  their  ancient  chiefs.  The  O'Neills 
afterwards  recovered  the  supremacy,  and  made 
a  distinguished  figure  in  Irish  history,  down  to 
the  seventeenth  century,  as  princes  of  Tyrone 
and  kings  of  Ulster. 

The  O'Neills  had  their  chief  seat  at  Dungan- 
non,  and  were  inaugurated  as  princes  of  Tyrone 
at  Tullaghoge  palace  in  the  barony  of  Dungan- 
non,  where  a  rude  seat  of  large  stones  served 
them  as  a  coronation  chair.  The  "Four  Mas- 
ters'' record  fourteen  plundering  expeditions  led 
by  Flaherty  into  different  parts  of  Ireland,  both 
against  his  countrymen  and  the  Northmen.  He 
is  sometimes  called  "Flaherty  of  the  Pilgrim's 
Staff,"  from  a  pilgrimage  he  made  to  Rome.  He 
was  slain  in  1036. 

Hugh  O'Neill 

Hugh  O'Neill,  Lord  of  Tyrone,  late  in  the 
twelfth  and  early  in  the  thirteenth  centuries,  was 
one  of  the  most  determined  opponents  of  the 
Anglo-Normans  in  the  North  of  Ireland.  In 
1198  he  attacked  them  at  Larne,  and  for  a  time 
broke  their  power  in  the  district.  Next  year, 
after  a  temporary  success,  he  was  defeated  at 
Ballysadare,  by  the  chiefs  of  Connaught,  Will- 
iam De  Burgh,  and  the  Anglo-Normans  of 
Limerick. 

In  1200  he  was  for  a  time  deposed  from  his 
chieftaincy,  and  Conor  O'Loughlen  elected  in 


396  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

his  stead.  Eight  years  afterwards  a  battle  was 
fought  in  Inishowen  between  him  and  the 
O'Donnells,  in  which  many  were  slain  on  both 
sides.  The  combatants  subsequently  entered 
into  an  alliance  against  such  of  the  Irish  or 
Anglo-Normans  as  should  oppose  them.  Hugh 
O'Neill  was  one  of  the  princes  who  attended 
King  John  in  1210;  but  the  English  and  Irish 
annalists  are  not  agreed  as  to  whether  he  gave 
in  his  submission.  Next  year  he  and  O'Donnell 
made  a  descent  upon  the  new  settlers  on  the 
shores  of  Lough  Erne.  In  1212  he  burned  the 
castles  of  Clones,  erected  but  a  few  months,  and 
in  1213  destroyed  Carrickfergus  and  gained  a 
victory  over  the  English. 

His  name  does  not  appear  again  in  the  "An- 
nals" until  1221,  when,  in  conjunction  with  Hugh 
de  Lacy  the  younger,  he  demolished  the  castle 
of  Coleraine,  and  spoiled  Meath  and  Leinster, 
being  effectually  opposed  by  a  hosting  of  the 
Lords  of  the  Pale.  In  1225  he  made  a  successful 
expedition  against  the  O'Conors  of  Connaught. 

His  death,  in  1230,  is  thus  noticed:  "Hugh 
O'Neill,  Lord  of  Tyrone,  .  .  .  who  had  never 
rendered  hostages,  pledges,  or  tribute  to  English 
or  Irish;  who  had  gained  victories  over  the  Eng- 
lish, and  cut  them  off  with  great  and  frequent 
slaughter;  ...  a  man  who  had  attempted  the 
subjugation  of  all  Ireland, — died  a  natural  death, 
although  it  was  never  supposed  that  he  would 
die  in  any  other  way  than  to  fall  by  the  hands  of 
the  English."    His  wife  died  in  1215. 

Owen  O'Neill 

Owen  O'Neill,  Lord  of  Tyrone  from  1432 
to  1455,  occupies  a  prominent  place  in  the  annals 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  397 

of  the  North  of  Ireland  during  the  first  half  of 
the  fifteenth  century.  He  was  engaged  in  con- 
stant expeditions  with  varying  success  against 
the  Anglo-Irish;  also  his  neighbors,  the  O'Don- 
nells  and  MacOuillans,  and  against  rival  branches 
of  the  O'Neill  family.  In  1425  he  was  taken  pris- 
oner and  held  captive  in  Dublin  for  some  time. 
In  1430  and  1444  he  appears  to  have  levied  con- 
tributions on  the  Pale;  but  in  1442  he  is  men- 
tioned as  co-operating  with  the  Anglo-Irish 
against  the  O'Donnells.  In  an  expedition  against 
the  Maguires  of  Fermanagh,  in  1435,  it  is  said 
that  the  inhabitants  of  the  district,  flying  from 
his  advance,  carried  their  goods  across  the  frozen 
surface  of  Lough  Erne.  Owen  was  deposed  by 
his  son  Henry  in  1455,  and  died  in  the  following 
year. 

Henry  O'Neill 

Henry  O'Neill,  Lord  of  Tyrone,  son  of 
Owen,  flourished  in  the  fifteenth  century.  His 
wars  and  exploits  are  often  referred  to  in  the 
*'Four  Masters."  In  1431  he  was  taken  prisoner 
by  Naghtan  O'Donnell,  but  was  soon  liberated, 
and  they  became  for  a  time  fast  friends.  In 
1442  (with  his  father)  he  joined  the  Anglo-Irish, 
and  led  an  army  against  the  same  Naghtan, 
forcing  him  to  surrender  Castlefin  and  the  sur- 
rounding territory.  For  some  cause  his  father 
was  banished  in  1455  and  he  was  inaugurated  as 
The  O'Neill  at  Tullaghoge  in  presence  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Armagh,  the  Maguires,  Mac- 
Mahons,  and  his  own  kinsman.  Two  years 
afterwards  he  led  a  successful  expedition  against 
the  O'Donnells.  In  1464  the  king  sent  him  a 
present  of  a  chain  of  gold.    He  died  in  1489. 


398  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

Con  B.  O'Neill 

Con  Bacagh  O'Neill,  Earl  of  Tyrone,  was 
inaugurated  The  O'Neill  upon  the  death  of  his 
brother  in  1519,  and  was  soon  afterwards  re- 
ceived into  royal  favor  by  Henry  VIII.  In  1523 
he  bore  the  sword  of  state  before  the  Lord-Dep- 
uty. In  1534,  however,  he  became  involved  in 
the  rebellion  of  Silken  Thomas  FitzGerald,  and 
in  1538,  buoyed  up  by  hopes  of  foreign  assist- 
ance, he  joined  Manus  O'Donnell,  marched  upon 
the  English  Pale,  and  reviewed  his  forces  at 
Tara. 

The  next  year  he  turned  towards  home,  but 
was  overtaken  by  Lord  Grey,  at  Ballahoe  in  Mon- 
aghan,  and  defeated  in  a  firece  engagement.  In 
January,  1542,  King  Henry  VIII.  desiring  his 
presence  in  London,  he  set  sail  for  England  and 
presented  himself  at  court  on  the  24th  of  Septem- 
ber, and  was  created  Earl  of  Tyrone.  His  son 
Matthew  was  created  Baron  of  Dungannon  (a 
title  to  be  afterwards  borne  by  the  heirs  appar- 
ent of  Earls  of  Tyrone),  and  two  of  the  Maguire 
family  who  accompanied  him  were  knighted. 

Of  his  submission  to  King  Henry,  Richey 
says:  "Although  Con  O'Neill  might  for  himself 
accept  any  title  from  the  King  of  England,  he, 
acting  as  chief  of  his  tribe,  had  no  shadow  of 
right  to  take  a  grant  of  all  their  tribal  lands  to 
himself;  but  in  their  eyes  the  king's  granting 
was  simply  a  nullity."  Before  long,  however, 
O'Neill  regretted  his  submission,  and  is  said  to 
have  execrated  any  of  his  posterity  who  should 
learn  to  speak  English,  "sow  wheat,  or  build  cas- 
tles." In  1551,  on  the  accusation  of  his  son,  the 
Baron  of  Dungannon,  he  was  taken  prisoner  and 
confined  in  Dublin,  while  his  younger  sons  waged 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  399 

war  with  the  English  and  with  the  baron,  in 
which  his  territories  were  devastated. 

O'Neill  died,  it  is  said,  of  a  broken  heart  in 
1559,  within  the  precincts  of  the  Pale.  His  wife, 
by  whom  he  had  his  son  John,  or  Shane,  was  a 
daughter  of  the  eighth  Earl  of  Kildare.  His  son 
Matthew,  Baron  of  Dungannon,  was  killed  in 
battle  two  years  before  his  father's  death. 

Turlough  L.  O'Neill 

Turlough  Luineach  O'Neill,  nephew  of  Con 
B.  O'Neill,  and  the  rival  of  his  cousin,  Hugh 
O'Neill,  Earl  of  Tyrone,  was,  after  the  death  of 
Shane  in  1567,  inaugurated  The  O'Neill.  In 
1570  he  compassed  the  death  of  some  of  the  prin- 
cipal MacSweenys,  and  in  1581  he  attacked  and 
humbled  the  O'Reillys,  in  retaliation  for  their 
having  imprisoned  some  of  his  cousins.  In  the 
month  of  July  of  the  latter  year  he  was  engaged 
in  hostilities  with  the  O'Donnells.  The  "Four 
Masters"  say  a  furious  and  desperate  battle  was 
fought  between  them;  and  the  celebrated  prov- 
erb was  verified  on  this  occasion, — "Lively  is 
each  kinsman  when  fighting  against  the  other." 

In  1585  he  went  to  Dublin  to  attend  the  par- 
liament that  assembled  on  the  26th  of  April,  but 
does  not  appear  to  have  taken  his  seat,  as  his 
name  is  not  on  the  official  list.  It  was  the  inten- 
tion of  Queen  Elizabeth  to  create  him  Earl  of 
Clan  O'Neill  and  Baron  of  Clogher,  but  the  pat- 
ent was  never  perfected.  In  1588  he  defeated  his 
cousin,  the  Earl  of  Tyrone,  and  a  large  force, 
at  Carricklea,  near  Strabane.  In  1592  he  re- 
ceived an  Anglo-Irish  garrison  into  his  strong- 
hold at  Strabane,  and  engaged  in  a  series  of  oper- 
ations against  the  earl  and  his  allies.    Next  year, 


400  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

however,  he  appears  to  have  dismissed  these 
troops,  and  made  peace  with  his  cousin.  He  died 
at  Strabane  in  1595,  and  was  buried  at  Ardstraw. 
He  is  represented  as  having  been  a  stanch 
friend  of  the  bards  and  brehons.  Professor 
O'Donovan  says:  "There  are  still  extant  several 
Irish  poems  addressed  to  Turlough,  inciting  him 
to  shake  off  the  English  yoke  and  become  mon- 
arch of  Ireland  like  his  ancestors.  .  .  .  But  he 
was  so  old  when  he  was  made  O'Neill  that  he 
seems  to  have  then  retained  little  military  ardor 
to  tread  in  the  wake  of  his  ancestors,  and  he  was 
so  much  in  dread  of  the  sons  of  Shane  the  Proud 
and  of  Hugh  (Earl  of  Tyrone)  that  he  continued 
obedient  to  the  queen." 

Felim  O'Neill 

Sir  Felim  O'Neill,  one  of  the  most  prominent 
actors  at  the  opening  of  the  war  of  1641-52, 
fourth  in  descent  from  a  younger  brother  of  Con 
B.  O'Neill,  was  born  in  1604.  Carte  gives  the 
following  account  of  him:  "Sir  Felim  O'Neill 
of  Kinard,  in  County  Tyrone,  had  a  very  good 
estate  in  that  and  the  adjoining  county  of  Ar- 
magh, and  was  the  most  considerable  person  of 
his  name  in  Ireland.  His  grandfather.  Sir  Henry 
O'Neill,  had  deserved  well  of  the  crown;  and 
by  a  patent  under  the  Great  Seal  of  Ireland,  dated 
June  12,  1605,  had  a  grant  made  to  him  of  the 
whole  and  entire  territory  called  Henry  Gage's 
country." 

In  1641  he  entered  warmly  into  plans  for 
insurrection  with  Roger  More,  Lord  Maguire, 
his  brother,  Turlough  O'Neill,  Sir  Con  Magin- 
niss,  and  other  persons  of  distinction  in  Ireland. 
His  house  was  the  headquarters  for  the  meet- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  401 

ings  of  the  leaders;  and  he  was  one  of  the  five 
who  met  in  Castle  Street,  Dublin,  in  October,  to 
concert  measures  for  the  capture  of  the  castle. 
But  their  plans  being  discovered  through  the 
carelessness  of  a  servant,  the  leaders  were  forced 
to  withdraw.  Escaping  north.  Sir  Felim  seized 
and  garrisoned  Charlemont  fort,  Dungannon, 
also  the  northern  fortresses,  and  soon  found  him- 
self governor  of  ten  counties.  Prendergast,  in 
his  ''Cromwellian  Settlement,"  clears  him  of  the 
charge  of  having  murdered  Lord  Caulfeild. 

November  5,  1641,  at  the  head  of  30,000  men, 
he  established  his  headquarters  at  Newry,  pre- 
tending that  he  was  fighting  for  the  king.  He 
has  been  accused  of  great  and  unnecessary  cruel- 
ties at  the  opening  of  the  war;  this,  however,  he 
lamented  at  a  later  period.  As  a  warrant  for 
going  into  insurrection,  he  exhibited  a  document 
with  the  Great  Seal  attached,  which  he  after- 
wards acknowledged  was  detached  from  a  patent 
he  found  at  Charlemont  fort.  He  was  twice  de- 
feated with  considerable  loss  before  the  castle  of 
Derrick  in  Tyrone. 

He  took  Dundalk  in  November,  and  about 
January  1,  1642,  invested  Drogheda  at  the  head 
of  a  large  force.  The  place  was  defended  by  Sir 
Roger  Tichborne,  and,  after  a  siege  of  about  two 
months,  O'Neill  drew  off  his  forces  to  Dundalk. 
Tichborne  followed,  took  the  town  by  storm,  and 
obliged  his  adversary  to  retreat  towards  Armagh. 

There  was  some  jealousy  between  Sir  Felim 
and  Owen  Roe  O'Neill,  as  rival  heads  of  the  fam- 
ily. Although  the  former  commanded  in  several 
minor  conflicts,  after  Owen  Roe's  arrival  from 
the  continent,  in  1642,  Sir  Felim  did  not  take  a 
leading  part  in  military  operations.  He  held  a 
prominent  place,  however,  at  the  council  board 


402  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

of  the  Confederation.  The  Papal  Nuncio's  efforts 
to  bring  about  an  understanding  between  the 
O'Neills  proved  successful,  and  Sir  Felim  com- 
manded with  great  gallantry  a  division  of  Owen 
Roe's  army  at  the  battle  of  Benburb,  June  5, 
1646. 

In  November,  1649,  he  married  Lady  Jane 
Gordon,  a  daughter  of  the  Marquis  of  Huntley, 
and  widow  of  Lord  Strabane.  He  had  just  be- 
fore relieved  her  castle  of  Strabane,  attacked  by 
Monro.  Three  years  afterwards,  in  1652,  he  was 
taken  prisoner  on  an  island  in  Lough  Roughan, 
near  Dungannon,  and  was  immediately  sent  to 
Dublin.  He  was  offered  pardon  if  he  would  make 
a  public  confession  that  he  had  taken  up  arms  by 
the  king's  command,  but  he  refused.  He  was 
tried  and  convicted  in  October,  and  was  executed 
with  all  the  barbarities  then  inflicted  on  people 
convicted  of  high  treason.  His  head  was  spiked 
on  the  bridge  at  Dublin. 

King  Conn 

Conn  the  Hundred  Fighter,  commonly 
known  as  *'Conn  of  the  Hundred  Battles,"  was 
King  of  Ireland  from  175  to  195  A.  D.  His  reign 
was  one  of  almost  constant  warfare.  He  early 
became  involved  in  contentions  with  Owen  More 
concerning  the  throne  of  Munster.  They  ulti- 
mately divided  the  island  between  them,  taking 
as  boundary  the  chain  of  gravelly  hills  running 
from  Tallaght  west  to  the  Shannon  at  Clonmac- 
nois.  Owen  retained  the  southern,  and  Conn  the 
northern  part.  Conn  is  said  to  have  procured 
the  assassination  of  his  rival.  In  the  contests  be- 
tween them,  Owen  drew  many  to  his  standard  in 
times  of  scarcity  by  his  large  stores  of  provisions. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  403 

Conn  was  eventually  assassinated  within  the  pre- 
cincts of  Tara,  by  the  King  of  Ulster  and  a  band 
of  fifty  men  attired  as  women. 

King  Dathy 

Dathy,  the  last  king  of  pagan  Ireland, 
reigned  twenty  years,  from  408  to  428.  The 
early  successes  of  his  arms  in  Britain  and  emu- 
lation of  his  uncle  Niall  stimulated  him  to  con- 
tinental expeditions.  Keating  recounts  the  fol- 
lowing legend  of  his  death  by  lightning,  while 
passing  through  the  Alps:  "And  the  manner  in 
which  Dathy  was  slain  was  this;  to  wit,  a  flash- 
ing thunderbolt,  shot  from  heaven,  smote  him 
upon  the  head  whilst  he  was  making  conquests 
in  Gaul.  It  was  near  the  mountains  called  the 
Alps  that  he  fell  by  the  vengeance  of  God,  for 
he  had  plundered  the  sanctuary  of  a  holy  hermit, 
Parmenius,  who  cursed  him  therefore."  Dathy's 
death  has  formed  a  favorite  subject  for  Davis, 
Mangan,  Aubrey  De  Vere,  Irwin,  and  other 
poets.  It  is  related  that  his  body  was  carried 
home  by  his  followers,  and  interred  at  Rath- 
croghan,  Tulsk,  in  Roscommon,  where  a  pillar 
of  red-grit  sandstone  still  marks  the  spot.  He 
was  distinguished  for  his  activity,  sprightly  man- 
ners and  ability  in  war. 

King  Felim 

Felim,  King  of  Munster,  and  for  a  time  mon- 
arch of  Ireland  in  the  ninth  century,  is  by  some 
writers  represented  as  having  rivaled  the  worst 
deeds  of  the  Danes  in  the  devastation  of  his 
country,  taking  advantage  of  their  incursions  to 
plunder  and  lay  waste  the  land.    In  one  engage- 


404  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

ment  he  defeated  the  monarch  Niall  and  carried 
off  his  daughter  Gormlaith.  O'Mahoney  says: 
"That  he  was  nevertheless  a  brave  and  w^ise 
prince,  within  the  Hmits  of  his  own  principaHty, 
may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  Munster  was 
kept  comparatively  free  from  the  ravages  of  the 
Northmen  during  his  lifetime."  O'Curry  styles 
him  "a  distinguished  scholar  and  a  scribe."  He 
died  August  18,  845. 

Finn  MacCool 

Finn  MacCool,  a  distinguished  chief  who 
flourished  in  the  third  century  of  our  era,  was 
son-in-law  to  King  Cormac,  being  married  in  suc- 
cession to  his  daughters  Grania  and  Ailbe.  In- 
numerable stories  are  related  of  him, — in  Irish 
legends  as  Finn  MacCool,  and  in  Scottish  as 
Fingal.  He  was  commander  of  the  Fenian  mili- 
tia, a  body  of  several  thousand  warriors  main- 
tained by  the  Irish  monarchs  of  that  age.  In 
peace  they  are  said  to  have  numbered  9,000,  in 
war  21,000.  In  winter  they  lived  in  small  par- 
ties on  the  inhabitants  of  the  country,  while  in 
summer  they  maintained  themselves  by  hunting 
and  fishing. 

When  Finn  was  on  the  point  of  being  mar- 
ried to  his  first  wife,  Grania,  she  eloped  with  his 
friend  Dermat.  The  wanderings  of  the  lovers 
and  Finn's  pursuit  was  one  of  the  most  fruitful 
themes  of  Fenian  romance.  Dermat  eventually 
met  his  death  from  the  thrust  of  a  wild  boar  on 
Benbulben,  in  County  Sligo.  Finn's  arrival  on 
the  scene  before  his  rival's  death  forms  the  sub- 
ject of  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  Ferguson's 
"Lays  of  the  Western  Gael." 

In  addition  to  his  warlike  accomplishments, 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  405 

Finn  is  reported  to  have  possessed  the  gifts  of 
poetry,  second  sight,  and  heahng.  His  principal 
residence  was  on  Dun  Almhain  (the  Hill  of 
Allen,  near  Kildare), — an  abode  glowingly  de- 
scribed in  so  many  of  his  son  Oisin's  lays.  The 
surrounding  rath  or  fortification  is  still  traceable, 
even  from  a  distance.  His  other  abode  was  Moy- 
elly  in  the  present  Kings  County.  Moore  says 
in  his  history:  "It  has  been  the  fate  of  this  popu- 
lar Irish  hero,  after  a  long  course  of  traditional 
renown  in  his  country, — where  his  name  still 
lives,  not  only  in  legends  and  songs,  but  yet  in 
the  most  indelible  records  of  scenery  connected 
with  his  memory, — to  have  been  all  at  once  trans- 
ferred, by  adoption,  to  another  country  (Scot- 
land), and  start  a  new  but  false  shape,  in  a  fresh 
career  of  fame." 

The  Four  Masters  state  that  Finn  met  his 
death  in  283,  at  Rath-Breagha,  near  the  Boyne, 
whither  he  had  retired  in  his  old  age  to  pass  the 
remainder  of  his  life  in  tranquillity.  He  was 
killed  by  the  blow  of  a  fishing  gafif,  at  the  hands 
of  one  Athlach,  and  his  death  was  avenged  by 
Cailte  MacRonain,  his  faithful  follower. 

Peter  O'Neill  Crowley 

Peter  O'Neill  Crowley,  a  prominent  Fenian, 
was  born  May  23,  1832,  at  Ballymacoda,  County 
Cork,  where  his  father  was  a  respectable  farmer. 
His  uncle.  Rev.  Peter  O'Neill,  was  flogged  at 
Cork  in  1798  for  alleged  complicity  in  the  insur- 
rection of  that  year.  Peter  inherited  his  farm, 
and  cultivated  it  with  great  industry  and  thrift. 
He  was  studious  in  his  habits,  and  was  greatly 
beloved  by  relatives  and  friends.  He  early  joined 
the  Fenian  movement,  became  an  active  propa- 


4o6  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

gandist,  took  the  field  in  March,  1867,  and 
formed  one  of  a  party  under  the  command  of 
Captain  McClure  in  the  attack  on  the  Knocka- 
doon  coastguard  station.  Afterwards  he  took 
refuge  with  a  few  comrades  in  Kilclooney  Wood, 
County  Cork,  where,  on  Sunday,  March  31,  his 
small  party  was  attacked  and  defeated  by  the 
military  and  constabulary.  He  was  mortally 
wounded  in  the  fight,  and  died  a  few  hours  after- 
wards at  Mitchelstown,  where  he  was  conveyed, 
— being  treated  with  great  kindness  and  consid- 
eration by  his  captors.  One  who  was  with  him 
to  the  last  remarked:  "His  death  was  most  edi- 
fying. Never  did  I  attend  one  who  made  a 
greater  impression  upon  me.  He  begged  of  me 
to  tell  his  sister  not  to  be  troubled  because  of 
his  death,  which  he  hoped  would  be  a  happy  one." 
An  immense  concourse  attended  his  funeral  at 
Ballymacoda. 


John  O'Mahony 

John  O'Mahony,  organizer  of  the  Fenians, 
was  born  in  Kilbeheny,  County  Limerick,  in 
1816,  descended  from  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
popular  families  in  the  county.  His  father  and 
uncle  took  part  in  the  insurrection  of  1798. 
O'Mahony  was  sent  to  a  classical  school  in 
County  Cork,  and  afterwards  entered  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  but  never  took  a  degree.  He 
studied  Hebrew  and  Sanscrit,  became  an  ac- 
complished Gaelic,  Greek  and  Latin  scholar,  and 
contributed  articles  to  French  journals.  In  1843 
he  joined  the  Repeal  movement,  but  becoming 
dissatisfied  with  O'Connell's  pacific  policy,  he 
attached  himself  to  the  Young  Irelanders,  and 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  407 

took  the  field  with  Smith  O'Brien,  in  1848.  After 
the  failure  at  Ballingarry,  he  escaped  to  France, 
and  lived  in  Paris  for  several  years. 

About  1854  he  came  to  this  country,  and 
w^ith  John  Mitchel,  Michael  Doheny  and  other 
Nationalists  formed  the  Emmet  Monument  As- 
sociation and  kindred  organizations  in  New 
York  City.  In  1857  he  published  in  New  York 
"The  History  of  Ireland,  by  Geoffrey  Keating, 
D.  D.,  Translated  from  the  Original  Gaelic,  and 
Copiously  Annotated,"  considered  by  many  the 
best  translation  of  Keating's  work.  This  publi- 
cation brought  O'Mahony  no  pecuniary  gain, 
and  owing  to  the  mental  strain  brought  to  bear 
upon  him  in  its  preparation  he  was  placed  for  a 
time  in  an  asylum.  The  extent  to  which  the 
early  portion  of  ''Keating's  History"  is  occupied 
with  exploits  of  the  ancient  Fenians  (a  cele- 
brated military  force  of  Pagan  Ireland)  probably 
led  to  the  adoption  of  this  name  for  the  secret 
society  organized  by  O'Mahony,  James  Stephens 
and  others  in  1857,  with  the  object  of  overthrow- 
ing English  rule  in  Ireland  and  establishing  an 
independent  republic. 

The  organization  of  the  Fenian  Brother- 
hood, or  Irish  Republican  Brotherhood,  was 
completed  at  conventions  held  at  Chicago  in  No- 
vember, 1863,  at  Cincinnati  in  January,  1865, 
and  at  Philadelphia  in  the  following  September. 
O'Mahony's  field  was  America,  and  his  task  was 
to  raise  money  to  support  the  organization  and 
obtain  munitions  of  war  and  select  trained  mili- 
tary officers  who  were  to  lead  the  forces  in  bat- 
tle. James  Stephens  was  to  go  to  Ireland  and 
organize  the  society  there,  enlist  and  secretly 
train  the  men  who  were  to  do  the  fighting,  and, 
as  he  took  the  post  of  danger,  he  insisted  upon 


408  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

having  supreme  control  of  the  movement  at 
home  and  abroad. 

At  this  time  O'Mahony  held  the  rank  of 
colonel  in  the  69th  regiment  of  New  York 
militia,  recruited  mainly  from  the  Fenian 
Brotherhood,  which  had  also  furnished  a  large 
proportion  of  Meagher's  Brigade,  Corcoran's 
Legion  and  other  Irish  regiments  that  served 
in  the  American  civil  war.  The  rapid  growth 
of  the  organization  demanded  all  of  O'Mahony's 
attention,  and  resigning  the  colonelcy  of  the 
New  York  regiment,  he  devoted  himself  entirely 
to  the  object  ever  uppermost  in  his  mind — the 
independence  of  his  native  country.  The  pur- 
poses of  the  Brotherhood  were  greatly  favored 
by  the  close  of  the  civil  war  in  the  spring  of 
1865  through  the  discharge  of  the  Irish-Amer- 
ican soldiers,  who  were  eager  for  service  else- 
where. At  this  period  the  greatest  activity  was 
shown  and  between  1860  and  1870  probably 
$500,000  was  contributed  to  the  Fenian  fund  in 
the  United  States  and  Canada. 

Though  differences  occasionally  arose  be- 
tween O'Mahony,  James  Stephens  and  others  as 
to  policy,  the  former  continued  president  for 
some  time.  O'Mahony  had  for  many  years  as- 
sisted in  the  Fenian  councils,  but  did  not  take 
any  personal  part  in  the  raids  upon  Canada  or 
the  attempted  insurrection  in  Ireland.  The  lat- 
ter years  of  his  life  were  passed  in  literary  pur- 
suits. He  contributed  to  various  Irish-American 
newspapers,  and  in  1872  delivered  a  lecture  on 
the  history  of  Fenianism  at  Cooper  Union  in 
New  York  City. 

Although  thousands  of  dollars  of  public 
funds  had  passed  through  his  hands,  he  showed 
little  regard  for  money  even  for  his  own  neces- 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  409 

sities.  In  the  shadow  of  penury  and  ill  health, 
O'Mahony  declined  the  aid  of  friends  who  were 
anxious  to  help  him  on  learning  of  his  condition. 
He  died  in  New  York  City,  February  7,  1877. 
His  remains  were  removed  to  Ireland  and  at- 
tended to  the  grave  in  Glasnevin  Cemetery  with 
the  honors  of  a  public  funeral. 

George  Macartney 

George  Macartney,  Earl  Macartney,  diplo- 
mat, was  born  in  County  Antrim,  May  14,  1737. 
Educated  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  he  entered 
public  life  under  the  auspices  of  the  first  Lord 
Holland,  and  was  sent  as  a  special  envoy  to  Rus- 
sia to  negotiate  a  commercial  treaty  with  the 
Empress  Catherine  soon  after  she  had  ascended 
the  throne.  After  long  and  arduous  negotia- 
tions. Macartney  brought  the  matter  to  a  satis- 
factory close.  After  his  return,  in  1767,  he  sat 
for  a  time  in  the  Irish  and  also  in  the  British 
parliament,  and  was  Irish  secretary  from  1769 
to  1772.  In  1775  he  was  appointed  governor  of 
the  island  of  Grenada,  which  he  defended 
bravely  but  unsuccessfully  against  overwhelm- 
ing numbers  of  the  French  under  D'Estaing,  in 
1779,  and  after  surrendering  was  sent  a  prisoner 
to  France.  He  was,  however,  soon  liberated  by 
exchange.  In  1776  he  had  been  raised  to  the 
Irish  peerage  as  Baron  Macartney  and  in  1780 
was  appointed  governor  of  Madras,  India. 

He  distinguished  himself  highly  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  war  with  Tippoo;  and  after  be- 
ing superseded  as  governor  of  Madras  in  1785, 
was  offered,  but  declined,  the  governor-general- 
ship of  India.  Six  years  after  his  return  to  Ire- 
land he  was  appointed  ambassador  extraordi- 


410  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

nary  to  China.  "His  mission,  though  not  polit- 
ically or  commercially  successful,  had  the  im- 
portant result  of  greatly  increasing  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  Celestial  empire."  He  had  been 
made  an  Irish  viscount  in  1792  and  an  Irish 
earl  in  1794;  in  the  year  of  his  return  from  China 
(1794)  he  was  created  Baron  Macartney  in  the 
peerage  of  England,  and  appointed  governor  of 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  He  returned  in  ill 
health  in  1798,  and  lived  in  retirement  at  Chis- 
wick  until  his  death.  A  formal  account  of  his 
embassy  to  China,  the  work  of  the  secretary  of 
the  embassy,  Sir  George  Staunton,  was  pub- 
lished in  1797.  Lord  Macartney's  own  private 
journal  of  the  mission  was  printed,  with  others 
of  his  papers,  in  Barrow's  "Life  of  Earl  Macart- 
ney," 1807.    He  died  childless,  March  31,  1806. 

Thomas  Reed 

Sir  Thomas  Reed,  soldier,  son  of  Thomas 
Reed,  was  born  in  Dublin,  in  1796.  He  entered 
the  army  as  cornet  in  the  12th  Light  Dra- 
goons in  1813,  and  became  lieutenant  in  1815. 
He  was  present  with  his  regiment  at  Waterloo, 
commanded  by  Colonel  Ponsonby,  and  formed 
part  of  Vandeleur's  brigade.  In  1824  he  was  pro- 
moted captain,  major  in  1826,  and  in  1834  he  be- 
came lieutenant-colonel  of  the  62nd  Foot,  a  po- 
sition which  he  held  for  eighteen  years. 

In  1842  he  was  assigned  aide-de-camp  to  the 
Queen.  Two  years  afterwards  he  was  made  a 
C.  B.  When  the  first  Sikh  war  broke  out  in 
India  his  regiment  formed  part  of  the  force 
which  held  Ferozepore,  and  at  the  battle  of  Fe- 
rozeshah,  in  1845,  Reed  commanded  a  brigade 
in  Littler's  division.     His  troops  were  ordered 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  411 

to  attack  the  strongest  part  of  the  Sikh  entrench- 
ments, where  there  was  a  large  number  of  heavy 
guns  served  with  grape  and  canister,  but  the  at- 
tack failed,  after  a  heavy  loss  among  officers  and 
men. 

The  commander-in-chief,  Sir  Hugh  Gough, 
took  an  early  opportunity  to  assure  the  brigade 
that  its  conduct  at  Ferozeshah  had  received  and 
merited  his  most  cordial  approbation.  Reed, 
whom  Littler  spoke  of  in  his  report  as  zealous 
and  indefatigable,  was  slightly  wounded.  In 
1852  he  gave  up  his  command,  went  on  half-pay, 
and  was  employed  as  colonel  on  the  staff  at 
Birmingham.  He  was  promoted  major-general 
in  1854,  and  the  next  year  was  sent  to  command 
the  troops  in  Ceylon.  In  1856  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  a  division  of  the  Madras  army  in  India, 
and  soon  afterwards  to  the  command  of  the 
troops  in  the  Punjab.  He  was  in  this  position 
when  the  mutiny  broke  out  in  1857,  and  on  Gen- 
eral Anson's  death  he  became  provisional  com- 
mander-in-chief, as  the  senior  officer  in  the  Ben- 
gal presidency,  until  Sir  Patrick  Grant  arrived 
at  Calcutta. 

He  joined  the  Delhi  field  force  at  Alipur  in 
June,  but  he  was  disabled  by  severe  sickness  and 
fatigue  from  being  present  at  the  action  of  Badli- 
ki-Serai  on  that  day,  and  the  immediate  com- 
mand of  the  field  force  remained  with  Sir  Henry 
Barnard.  In  the  council  of  war  held  on  June  15 
Reed  was  in  favor  of  waiting  for  reinforcements 
before  risking  an  assault. 

Upon  the  death  of  Sir  Henry  Barnard,  July 
5,  Reed  assumed  command  of  the  field  force,  but 
owing  to  poor  health  he  appointed  a  successor 
and  removed  to  Simla.  Reed  saw  no  further 
service  in  the  field. 


412  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

He  was  given  the  colonelcy  of  the  44th  Foot 
in  1858,  became  lieutenant-general  in  1860,  and 
general  eight  years  later.  October  1,  1877,  he 
was  placed  on  the  retired  list.  Reed,  who  had 
been  made  K.  C.  B.  in  1865  and  G.  C.  B.  in  1875, 
died  at  Ramsey,  July  24,  1883.  In  1835  he  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Jane,  daughter  of  John  Clayton 
of  Enfield  Old  Park,  Middlesex. 

Thomas  Graves 

Sir  Thomas  Graves,  admiral,  born  in  Ulster, 
about  1748,  son  of  the  Rev.  John  Graves  of  Castle 
Dawson,  Ireland,  nephew  of  Admiral  Samuel 
Graves  and  cousin  of  Admiral  Thomas,  Lord 
Graves.  His  three  brothers  all  served  as  cap- 
tains in  the  British  navy,  becoming  admirals  on 
the  retired  list.  Thomas  entered  the  navy  at  an 
early  age,  and  served  during  the  Seven  Years' 
war  with  his  uncle  Samuel  on  board  the  Scor- 
pion, Duke,  and  Venus.  After  the  peace  he  was 
appointed  to  the  Antelope  with  his  cousin 
Thomas.  In  1765,  while  on  the  coast  of  Africa, 
he  was  promoted  to  be  lieutenant  of  the 
Shannon. 

In  1770  he  was  lieutenant  of  the  Arethusa, 
and  in  1773  was  appointed  to  the  Racehorse  with 
Captain  Phipps  for  the  voyage  of  discovery  in 
the  Arctic  seas.  In  the  following  year  he  came 
to  America  with  his  uncle  Samuel,  and  was  ap- 
pointed by  him  to  command  the  Diana,  one  of 
the  small  schooners  employed  for  the  prevention 
of  smuggling.  May  27,  1775,  he  was  sent  from 
Boston  into  the  Charles  river,  and  was  attacked 
by  a  large  force  of  Americans.  The  Diana  ran 
aground  when  the  colonial  forces  succeeded  in 
setting  her  on  fire,  and  the  small  crew,  after  a 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  413 

gallant  defense,  were  compelled  to  abandon  her. 
Graves  was  severely  burnt,  as  well  as  his  brother 
John  (then  a  lieutenant  of  the  Preston  flagship), 
who  had  been  sent  to  the  Diana's  support. 

Graves  continued  after  this  employed  in 
command  of  other  tenders  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Boston  and  Rhode  Island  until,  on  the  recall 
of  his  uncle,  he  rejoined  the  Preston  and  re- 
turned to  England,  but  was  again  sent  out  to  the 
American  station  in  the  same  ship.  In  1779  he 
was  promoted  to  the  command  of  the  Savage 
sloop  on  the  West  Indian  and  American  stations. 
In  the  temporary  absence  of  Commodore  Af- 
fleck he  commanded  the  Bedford  in  the  action  of 
September  5,  oflf  the  Chesapeake,  and  continuing 
afterwards  in  the  Bedford  as  flag  captain;  was 
present  in  the  engagement  at  St.  Kitts,  in  Janu- 
ary, 1782,  and  in  the  actions  off  Dominica  in  the 
following  April. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  Graves  was 
appointed  to  the  frigate  Magicienne,  in  which, 
January  2,  1783,  he  fought  a  severe  action  with 
the  French  Sybille,  a  frigate  of  superior  force. 
Both  ships  were  reduced  to  wrecks,  and  so 
parted:  the  Magicienne  to  Jamaica  a  fortnight 
later,  the  Sybille  to  be  captured  a  few  days  after- 
wards by  the  Hussar.  During  the  peace  Graves 
spent  much  of  his  time  in  France,  and  in  the 
early  years  of  the  French  Revolution  had  no 
employment.  In  October,  1800,  he  was  appointed 
to  command  the  Cumberland,  of  seventy-four 
guns,  in  the  Channel  fleet. 

January  1,  1801,  he  was  promoted  to  be  rear- 
admiral  of  the  White,  and  in  March  hoisted  his 
flag  on  board  the  Polyphemus  of  sixty-four  guns, 
one  of  the  fleet  proceeding  to  the  Baltic.  Graves 
afterwards  shifted  his  flag  to  the  Defiance,  and 


414  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

in  her  was  second  in  command  under  Lord  Nel- 
son at  the  battle  of  Copenhagen,  April  2,  1801. 
For  his  services  on  this  occasion  he  received  the 
thanks  of  Parliament,  and  was  nominated  by 
the  King  a  Knight  of  the  Order  of  the  Bath. 

Towards  the  end  of  July  the  fleet  quitted  the 
Baltic,  and  on  its  return  to  England,  Graves, 
who  had  been  in  bad  health  during  the  greater 
part  of  the  campaign,  retired  from  active  serv- 
ice. He  became  a  vice-admiral  in  1805,  admiral 
in  1812,  and  died  at  his  home  near  Honiton, 
Devon,  March  29,  1814.  He  was  twice  married, 
but  had  only  one  daughter. 

Rory  O'Donnell 

Rory  O'Donnell,  Earl  of  Tirconnell,  young- 
er brother  of  Hugh  Roe  O'Donnell,  born  in 
1575,  kept  up  a  desultory  warfare  in  the  North 
for  some  months  after  the  defeat  of  the  Irish 
army  at  Kinsale,  and  the  departure  of  his  brother 
Hugh  Roe  for  Spain,  in  1602.  In  the  autumn 
he  and  O'Conor  Sligo  were  induced  to  submit 
to  Lord  Mountjoy  at  Athlone,  and  were  there- 
upon permitted  to  settle  in  their  own  territories. 
Next  year  he  was  commissioned  to  proceed 
against  Sir  Niall  Garv  O'Donnell,  who  had  gone 
out  in  opposition  to  the  Anglo-Irish  power,  and 
assumed  the  title  of  The  O'Donnell.  After  some 
skirmishes  Niall  submitted,  and  in  June,  1603, 
he  and  Rory  proceeded  to  London  to  have  their 
claims  to  precedence  settled.  Rory  was  made 
Earl  of  Tirconnell,  and  confirmed  in  his  terri- 
tories, excepting  the  fishery  at  Ballyshannon  and 
1,000  acres  contiguous. 

On  his  return  to  Ireland  he  was  duly  in- 
vested in  Christ  Church,   Dublin,   the  29th  of 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  415 

September.  He  married  a  daughter  of  the 
twelfth  Earl  of  Kildare.  He  was  one  of  those 
who  fled  to  the  continent  with  Hugh  O'Neill  in 
1607,  and  died  in  Rome,  July  28,  1608.  His  re- 
mains were  interred  in  the  Church  of  San  Pietro 
di  Montorio.  His  countess  remained  in  Ireland, 
and  after  his  death  married  Viscount  Kingsland. 
His  brother  Cafifar  died  in  September,  1608,  and 
was  buried  beside  him.  Several  descendants  of 
both  branches  of  the  O'Donnells,  born  on  the 
continent,  distinguished  themselves  in  the 
Spanish  and  Austrian  services. 

Hugh  O'Donnell 

Hugh  O'Donnell,  prominent  in  the  war  of 
1689-91,  was  born  in  Donegal,  in  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century.  His  boyhood  was 
spent  in  Ireland.  He  was  either  a  grandson  of 
CafTar,  brother  of  Hugh  Roe  O'Donnell,  or  a 
grandnephew  of  Niall  Garv  O'Donnell.  After 
serving  several  years  in  the  Spanish  army,  where 
so  many  of  his  family  had  risen  to  distinction, 
he  rose  to  be  a  brigadier-general;  in  1689  he 
asked  leave  to  enter  the  service  of  King  James 
II.,  and  on  being  refused  threw  up  his  command 
and  appeared  in  Ireland,  where  he  was  hailed 
with  enthusiasm  by  numbers  of  his  countrymen, 
who,  placing  faith  in  an  ancient  prophecy,  be- 
lieved him  destined  to  deliver  their  land  from  its 
connection  with  England. 

He  was  commissioned  by  James  II.  to  com- 
mand an  irregular  force  of  some  10,000  men, 
raised  mainly  by  himself;  but,  in  consequence 
of  the  jealousy  of  other  Irish  officers,  was  not 
permitted  to  take  much  part  in  the  regular  opera- 
tions of  the  war. 


4i6  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

He  carried  on  a  desultory  warfare  in  the 
interest  of  James,  and  had  to  trust  to  forced 
requisitions  for  the  provisioning  and  arming  of 
his  force.  After  the  struggle  in  Ireland  was  vir- 
tually at  an  end,  he  went  over  (with  about  1,000 
men)  to  the  Williamite  side,  on  securing  a  pen- 
sion of  £500  per  annum.  After  the  capitulation 
of  Limerick,  he  retired  to  Spain,  served  three 
years  in  Piedmont,  and  in  1695  was  appointed 
a  major-general.  He  was  named  *'Balldearg" 
(Red-Spot)  from  a  blood  mark.  Martin  Hav- 
erty  says:  "There  was  no  act  of  Balldearg 
O'Donnell's  which  was  not  worthy  of  a  brave, 
honorable  and  disinterested  man  and  a  true 
Irishman,  and  all  the  calumnies  against  him  may 
be  attributed  to  the  jealousy  of  Richard  Talbot 
and  the  hostility  of  the  Anglo-Irish  interest." 
He  died  probably  about  1703. 


Arthur  Forbes 

Sir  Arthur  Forbes,  first  Earl  of  Granard, 
was  born  in  1623.  His  father  came  to  Ireland  in 
1620  from  Scotland  and  obtained  large  estates  in 
County  Longford;  in  1632,  while  serving  as  an 
officer  under  Gustavus  Adolphus,  he  was  killed 
in  a  duel  at  Hamburg. 

Sir  Arthur  served  Prince  Charles  in  Scot- 
land and  afterwards  returned  home,  and  was  in- 
cluded in  the  Articles — not  having  fought 
against  the  Commonwealth  in  Ireland.  After 
the  Restoration  he  was  appointed  one  of  the 
commissioners  of  the  Court  of  Claims,  and  in 
1663  helped  to  frustrate  the  plot  of  the  discon- 
tented parliamentary  soldiers  for  seizing  the 
castles  of  Dublin,  Drogheda  and  Derry.    A  few 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  417 

years  afterwards  he  became  privy-councillor,  and 
was  made  marshal  of  the  army,  with  an  allow- 
ance. In  1675  he  was  raised  to  the  peerage  as 
Viscount  Granard,  and  was  afterwards  made  an 
earl.    He  augmented  the  family  estates. 

By  James  II.  he  was  continued  in  the  post 
of  marshal  and  lieutenant-general  of  the  army 
in  the  North,  and  was  appointed  lord-justice  in 
conjunction  with  the  Archbishop  of  Armagh. 
Not  agreeing  to  the  plans  of  James  II.  for  the 
reorganization  of  the  army,  he  was  superseded 
in  his  commands  by  the  Earl  of  Tirconnell.  He 
joined  William  HI.,  and  in  1691  commanded  one 
wing  of  the  army  that  reduced  Sligo  and  other 
towns.  He  died  at  Castleforbes,  in  County 
Longford,  in  1696. 

Arthur  Forbes 

Sir  Arthur  Forbes,  second  Earl  of  Granard, 
son  of  preceding,  was  born  about  1656.  He 
served  in  the  French  army  under  Turenne.  In 
1686  he  was  made  colonel  of  the  Royal  Regiment 
of  Ireland  (now  the  18th  Royal  Irish),  raised 
by  his  father.  He  adhered  to  the  fortunes  of 
James  II.,  and  was  by  William  III.  committed 
to  the  Tower.  In  confinement,  he  is  said  to  have 
refused  a  present  of  £300  from  WilHam,  and  on 
his  release  to  have  declined  a  commission  in  the 
army;  and  so  late  as  1702,  although  appearing 
at  court,  he  refused  the  government  of  Jamaica. 
Afterwards  he  accepted  a  pension  of  £  500  a  year 
(which  appears  never  to  have  been  paid),  and  in 
1715  was  made  Lord-Lieutenant  of  County 
Longford.  He  died  at  his  home,  Simmonscourt, 
near  Dublin,  August  24,  1734,  and  was  interred 
at  Castleforbes. 


4i8  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

George  Forbes 

Sir  George  Forbes,  third  Earl  of  Granard, 
second  son  of  preceding,  was  born  October  21, 
1685.  He  received  most  of  his  education  at 
Drogheda  Grammar  School.  He  entered  the 
navy  in  1704,  served  w^ith  distinction  in  the 
Mediterranean  and  elsewhere,  and  acted  as  ad- 
viser to  the  Emperor  of  Austria  in  naval  mat- 
ters. In  1729  he  was  appointed  Governor  of  the 
Leeward  Islands.  In  1733  he  was  sent  as  pleni- 
potentiary to  Russia,  chiefly  to  negotiate  a 
treaty  of  commerce.  On  his  return,  in  1734,  he 
was  made  rear-admiral  of  the  White,  then  rear- 
admiral  of  the  Red,  and  the  same  year  became 
Earl  of  Granard,  on  his  father's  death.  The 
latter  part  of  his  life  was  spent  on  his  Irish  es- 
tates, promoting  the  commercial  interests  of  the 
country.  He  had  much  to  do  with  putting  the 
coinage  of  Ireland  on  a  more  correct  basis.  He 
also  appears  to  have  devoted  much  of  his  time 
to  study  and  literary  pursuits.  He  died  June  19, 
1765,  and  was  buried  at  Newtownforbes. 

George  Forbes 

Sir  George  Forbes,  sixth  Earl  of  Granard, 
great-grandson  of  preceding,  was  born  June  14, 
1768,  and  succeeded  his  father  in  April,  1780.  He 
was  educated  at  Armagh,  and  entered  the  navy 
at  an  early  age.  He  commanded  the  Longford 
Militia  at  Castlebar,  in  1798,  during  the  French 
invasion  of  Connaught,  and  took  part  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Ballinamuck.  He  was  a  steadfast  adherent 
of  the  Irish  Liberal  party,  and  as  he  had  sup- 
ported Charlemont,  Grattan  and  Curran  in  early 
life,  so,   in   1799-1800,  he  stood  firm  with  his 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  419 

brothers-in-law,  Lords  Moira,  Kingston  and 
Mountcashel,  against  the  Legislative  Union,  and 
was  one  of  those  that  signed  the  Peers'  protest 
against  the  measure.  For  some  years  after- 
wards he  took  little  part  in  politics,  and  devoted 
himself  to  his  estates;  but  in  1806  he  accepted 
the  post  of  Clerk  of  the  Crown  and  Hanaper, 
and  was  created  a  peer  of  Great  Britain.  He 
supported  Catholic  Emancipation  and  Reform, 
and  declined  the  ribbon  of  St.  Patrick.  The  lat- 
ter part  of  his  life  was  spent  principally  in 
France.  He  died  in  Paris,  in  1837,  and  was 
buried  with  his  ancestors  at  Newtownforbes. 
The  present  eighth  earl,  his  descendant,  born  in 
1874,  succeeded  to  the  title  and  estates  in  1889. 


Thomas  Dillon 

Thomas  Dillon,  fourth  viscount,  was  born 
about  1614,  and  succeeded  to  his  estates  March 
15,  1636.  Brought  up  a  Catholic,  at  fifteen  he 
joined  the  Protestant  church,  and  subsequently 
took  his  seat  in  parliament,  and  was  raised  to 
several  offices  of  trust.  Being  on  a  mission  to 
King  Charles  in  February,  1642,  he  was,  with 
Lord  Taaffe,  seized  at  Ware  by  order  of  the 
House  of  Commons.  After  some  months'  im- 
prisonment, they  escaped  and  joined  the  king  at 
York.  Upon  Dillon's  return  to  Ireland,  he  was 
made  lieutenant-general,  and  was  appointed  joint 
president  of  Connaught  with  Viscount  Wilmot. 
In  1646  he  was  received  back  into  the  Catholic 
Church  by  the  papal  nuncio,  at  St.  Mary's,  Kil- 
kenny, in  presence  of  a  vast  concourse  of  people. 

He  commanded  one  division  of  Ormond's 
army,  which  was  defeated  before  Dublin  by  the 


420  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

parliamentary  leader.  General  Jones,  in  1649.  Dil- 
lon's estates  were  confiscated  by  Cromwell,  and 
he  and  his  family  lived  in  exile  on  the  continent 
until  the  Restoration.  In  1663  most  of  his  exten- 
sive landed  property  was  restored,  and  several 
high  offices  in  the  state  were  conferred  upon 
him.    He  died  about  1672. 


Peter  Dillon 

Peter  Dillon  was  born  about  1785  in  Ireland. 
He  entered  the  navy,  served  as  second  lieutenant 
of  H.  M.  S.  Hunter,  and  gained  a  considerable 
knowledge  of  the  South  Sea  Islands.  He  re- 
visited them  in  1826  as  captain  of  a  merchant- 
man. On  a  voyage  from  Valparaiso  to  New  Zea- 
land he  touched  at  Tikopia,  one  of  the  Queen 
Charlotte  group,  where  he  was  led  to  suspect, 
from  information  received,  that  the  ship  LaPer- 
ouse,  whose  fate  at  that  time  was  unknown,  had 
been  wrecked  on  a  neighboring  island. 

Prosecuting  his  inquiries  in  the  following 
year,  under  the  auspices  of  the  East  India  Gov- 
ernment, which  placed  a  vessel  at  his  disposal  for 
the  purpose,  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  from  the 
natives  not  only  positive  evidence  of  the  wreck 
of  two  French  vessels  many  years  before  at  Vani- 
koro,  but  also  a  number  of  articles  belonging  to 
them.  He  reached  Paris  in  1828,  and  the  articles 
were  recognized  as  having  belonged  to  the  ill- 
fated  expedition.  Charles  X.  conferred  upon 
Captain  Dillon  the  star  of  the  Legion  of  Honor, 
and  an  annual  pension  of  4,000  francs.  He  pub- 
lished in  1829  a  full  account  of  his  travels  in  two 
volumes,  which  was  translated  into  French.  Cap- 
tain Dillon  died  February  9,  1847. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  421 

Roland  Eustace 

Sir  Roland  Eustace  (or  FitzEustace),  Lord 
Portlester,  was  descended  from  a  branch  of  the 
Geraldines  to  whom  Henry  II.  had  granted  the 
country  around  Naas.  In  1454  he  was  appointed 
deputy  to  Richard,  Duke  of  York,  and  again  in 
1462  he  filled  the  same  office  for  the  Duke  of  Clar- 
ence. Subsequently  he  was  tried  for  plotting 
with  the  Earl  of  Desmond,  and  acquitted.  Cre- 
ated Lord  Portlester,  he  married  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Janico  d'Artois,  by  whom  he  had 
two  daughters.  The  elder  married  Gerald,  eighth 
Earl  of  Kildare.  He  held  the  office  of  Treasurer 
of  Ireland  for  many  years,  and  was  in  1474  ap- 
pointed to  the  custody  of  the  great  seal,  which 
six  years  afterwards  he  refused  to  surrender 
when  the  king  granted  the  post  to  another. 

This  was  for  a  time  a  great  hindrance  to  pub- 
lic business,  until  the  king  authorized  the  con- 
struction of  a  new  great  seal  for  Ireland  by 
Thomas  Archbold,  Master  of  the  King's  Mint  in 
Ireland,  and  that  in  Eustace's  hands  was  "an- 
nulled and  suspended,"  while  his  acts  as  treas- 
urer were  also  repudiated.  A  turbulent  spirit 
was  at  that  period  shown  by  many  of  those  "who 
should  have  been  foremost  among  the  king's  sup- 
porters." Eustace  refused  to  give  up  the  seal; 
his  son-in-law  Kildare  positively  declined  to  ad- 
mit a  new  lord  deputy,  Lord  Grey;  James  Keat- 
ing, Constable  of  Dublin  Castle,  broke  down  the 
drawbridge  and  defied  the  deputy  and  his  three 
hundred  archers  and  men-at-arms  to  gain  ad- 
mittance; and  the  Mayor  of  Dublin  proclaimed 
that  no  subsidy  should  be  paid  the  earl;  while  a 
parliament  held  at  Naas  repudiated  Lord  Grey's 
authority;  and  one  summoned  at  Trim  declared 


422  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

the  proceedings  of  Kildare's  parliament  at  Naas 
null  and  void. 

Lord  Portlester  died  December  14,  1496,  and 
was  buried  at  Cotlandstown,  County  Kildare. 
Two  monuments  were  erected  to  his  memory — 
one  in  the  new  abbey,  Kilcullen,  which  he  had 
founded  in  1460;  the  other  in  St.  Audoen's 
Church,  Dublin,  where  he  had  built  a  chapel  to 
the  Virgin. 

James  Eustace 

James  Eustace,  third  Viscount  Baltinglass, 
a  descendant  of  preceding,  who  distinguished 
himself  in  the  Desmond  war,  was  born  early  in 
the  sixteenth  century.  Having  with  other  lords 
of  the  Pale  complained  in  1576  to  Elizabeth  that 
their  liberties  and  privileges  had  been  annulled 
by  the  imposition  of  a  cess,  and  that  no  tax  ought 
to  be  levied  upon  them  but  by  act  of  parliament, 
he  was,  with  Lord  Delvin,  Howth,  and  Trimles- 
ton,  committed  prisoner  to  the  Castle  of  Dublin, 
while  their  lawyers  whom  they  sent  to  represent 
their  case  to  the  queen  were  committed  to  the 
Tower  of  London. 

After  a  year's  imprisonment  they  were  lib- 
erated without  accomplishing  their  desired  ends. 
After  vainly  endeavoring  to  persuade  the  Earl 
of  Kildare  to  rise  with  him,  Eustace,  in  the  mid- 
dle of  July  1580,  threw  off  his  allegiance,  and 
sent  letters  to  his  friends  asking  them  to  join  in 
defending  their  country  and  their  religion  from 
the  assaults  of  the  English.  One  of  Lord  Grey's 
first  acts  was  to  collect  a  large  force  and  march 
against  him  and  his  men,  entrenched  in  Glenma- 
lure.  The  English  force  of  800  men  were  led  into 
an  ambuscade  and  cut  off  almost  to  a  man — Sir 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  423 

Peter  Carew,  Colonel  John  Moor  and  Francis 
Cosby  being  among  the  slain,  and  Lord  Deputy 
Grey  escaping  with  difficulty. 

After  this  success  Eustace  appears  to  have 
hastened  to  join  the  Desmonds  and  their  Spanish 
allies  in  Kerry,  and  to  have  taken  an  active  part 
in  the  Desmond  war.  His  death  is  supposed  to 
have  taken  place  in  1583.  By  an  ex  post  facto 
law,  known  as  the  "Statute  of  Baltinglass,"  the 
Eustaces  were  deprived  of  their  estates  and  titles. 

Maurice  Eustace 

Sir  Maurice  Eustace,  lord  chancellor,  de- 
scended from  family  of  preceding,  was  born  at 
his  father's  seat  at  Castlemart  about  1590.  He 
gained  a  fellowship  at  Trinity  College,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  where  he  soon  distinguished 
himself.  A  clear-headed  man,  he  lost  no  oppor- 
tunity of  advancing  his  own  interests  in  those 
disturbed  times,  and  received  grants  of  Harris- 
town  and  other  lands  forfeited  by  Lord  Baltin- 
glass.  As  sergeant-at-law  he  attracted  the  notice 
of  Lord  Strafford,  and  in  1639  he  was  elected 
Speaker  of  the  Irish  House  of  Commons.  His 
inauguration  speech,  given  in  Flanagan's  "Chan- 
cellors," is  significantly  illustrative  of  the  times. 

After  the  Restoration,  in  1660,  he  was  ap- 
pointed Lord  Chancellor;  but  as  he  was  one  of 
the  lord  justices.  Archbishop  Bramhall  was  ap- 
pointed Speaker  of  the  Lords.  He  opposed  some 
of  the  most  unjust  results  of  the  Acts  of  Settle- 
ment and  Explanation.  He  continued  chancellor 
until  failing  health  obliged  him  to  resign  the  seals 
to  Archbishop  Boyle.  He  delighted  in  rural  af- 
fairs, and  his  demesne  at  Harristown  came  to  be 
regarded  as  the  most  beautiful  seat  in  Ireland. 


424  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

The  ex-chancellor  died  in  1665,  leaving  his  es- 
tates in  Kildare,  Dublin  and  Wicklow,  besides 
the  abbey  of  Cong,  to  his  nephews.  Sir  John  and 
Sir  Maurice  Eustace.  He  was  interred  in  St. 
Patrick's  Cathedral. 

John  Sheares 

John  Sheares,  United  Irishman,  son  of 
Henry  Sheares  (a  Cork  banker  and  member  of 
parliament),  was  born  in  Cork  in  1766.  Henry 
Sheares  died  in  1776  and  left  his  children  well 
provided  for.  John  being  intended  for  the  legal 
profession,  received  a  liberal  education  at  home 
and  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  where  he  gradu- 
ated B.  A.  in  1787.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1788,  and  in  1792  accompanied  his  brother 
Henry,  who  was  also  a  lawyer,  on  a  visit  to  the 
latter's  family,  then  residing  in  France.  Both 
brothers  were  possessed  of  ample  fortunes,  be- 
sides the  sums  they  derived  from  their  profes- 
sion. 

They  attended  political  meetings,  became 
acquainted  with  Roland,  Brissot,  and  other  lead- 
ers of  the  French  Revolution,  and  were  present 
at  the  execution  of  Louis  XVI.  Returning  to 
England  in  the  same  vessel  with  Daniel  O'Con- 
nell,  John  and  Henry  Sheares  gloried  in  what 
they  had  seen,  while  the  reign  of  terror  had  the 
opposite  effect  upon  the  future  great  statesman. 
John  early  joined  the  United  Irishmen  and  often 
presided  at  public  meetings.  He  showed  his  hos- 
tility to  the  government  by  attending  the  funeral 
of  Rev.  William  Jackson  in  1795,  who  had  been 
convicted  of  high  treason,  but  who,  in  entering 
court  to  receive  sentence,  had  managed  to  swal- 
low a  quantity  of  arsenic. 


IRISH  BIOGRAPHY  425 

When  The  Press  newspaper  was  started  in 
1797  by  Arthur  O'Connor,  Sheares  became  a  fre- 
quent contributor  to  it,  and  owing  to  the  editor's 
acceptance  of  a  letter  by  Sheares  addressed  to 
Lord  Clare  as  "The  Author  of  Coercion,"  the  pa- 
per was  suppressed  the  day  on  which  the  article 
was  to  have  appeared.  The  article  was  subse- 
quently published  in  a  volume  entitled  "The 
Beauties  of  the  Press,"  and  reprinted  by  Dr.  R. 
R.  Madden  in  "The  United  Irishman."  On  the 
seizure  of  most  of  the  members  of  the  Leinster 
Directory  at  the  house  of  Oliver  Bond  in  March, 
1798,  both  brothers  were  elected  to  the  vacancies 
in  the  directory,  and  John  became  a  chief  organ- 
izer of  the  proposed  rising,  which  was  set  for 
May  23.  Early  in  the  same  month  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  John  W.  Armstrong,  a  captain 
in  the  King's  County  militia,  who  worked  him- 
self into  the  confidence  of  Sheares,  and  betrayed 
his  designs  to  the  government. 

The  brothers  were  arrested  May  21  in  Dub- 
lin and  placed  in  Kilmainham  jail.  On  July  12 
they  were  brought  up  for  trial  on  the  charge  of 
high  treason.  The  only  witness  against  them  was 
Armstrong.  They  were  defended  by  Curran, 
Plunket  and  McNally.  There  was  little  to  crimi- 
nate Henry  but  a  proclamation  found  in  his  pos- 
session, admitted  to  have  been  written  by  John 
and  intended  for  publication  when  the  revolt  was 
announced.  The  trial  had  proceeded  for  fifteen 
hours  when  Curran,  sinking  with  exhaustion, 
moved  for  an  adjournment.  The  motion  was  op- 
posed by  the  attorney  general,  John  Toler,  and 
at  eight  o'clock  next  morning  the  jury,  after 
a  retirement  of  a  few  minutes,  returned  a  verdict 
of  guilty  against  both  prisoners.  A  painful  scene 
followed.      Henry    was    completely    unmanned. 


426  IRISH  BIOGRAPHY 

When  they  were  brought  up  for  sentence  John 
made  an  earnest  appeal  for  his  brother's  Hfe. 

After  the  trial  they  were  removed  to  New- 
gate and  none  of  their  relatives  or  friends  allowed 
to  see  them.  The  following  day  they  were  exe- 
cuted in  front  of  the  prison  and  their  remains 
placed  in  the  vaults  of  St.  Michan's  Church.  In 
early  life  Henry  served  in  the  army  for  three 
years,  but  afterwards  adopted  the  legal  profes- 
sion. He  was  married  twice  and  had  six  chil- 
dren. Two  other  brothers,  Christopher  and  Rich- 
ard, died  in  the  government  service,  the  former 
as  a  soldier  in  the  West  Indies,  the  latter  as  lieu- 
tenant in  the  navy  while  on  board  the  Thunderer, 
which  was  lost  on  the  West  Indian  station  in  the 
great  hurricane  of  October,  1779. 


I 


4^566 


BOSTON   COLLEGE  LIBRARY 

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Two  cents  a  day  is  charged  for  each  book 
kept  overtime. 

If  you  cannot  find  what  you  want,  ask  the 
Librarian  who  will  be  glad  to  help  you. 

The  borrower  is  responsible  for  books  drawn 
on  his  card  and  for  all  fines  accruing  on  the 
same. 


